Human Resources Committee on April 19th, 2010

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

Mr. Savage, we'll address it. Would you be open to just looking at this motion first?

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Well, the thing is that we have five minutes in committee, and then the bells are going to go, or the committee is going to end in five minutes. This is time sensitive.

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

Then go ahead. That's correct. We do have bells.

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

I'll only do it with Mr. Martin's indulgence.

[Tony Martin, NDP, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Yes, that's fine.

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Thank you, sir.

On Friday in Halifax I attended a celebration of Canada's ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. At that celebration, I spoke with some of the local folks who are also involved nationally. We've all been invited to attend a celebration of Canada's ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities next Wednesday, April 28, here in Ottawa, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The minister is going to speak.

What was mentioned to me was that a number of the leaders in the disability community, from across Canada, are going to be in Ottawa that day. That's a Wednesday. So I broached this idea with them and said that I would bring it up with the committee. I was wondering, if we don't have something pressing that day, whether it might be an opportunity to meet with some of the leaders in the disability community next Wednesday to talk about our study and to get their views on how we might go forward. I bring that up for your consideration. That's why it's time sensitive.

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

I will just let the committee know that next Wednesday we probably will have time and room in our schedule for them, because it's looking like we'll be able to deal with Bill C-395 and Bill C-308 in their entirety over the next couple of meetings. I'll just put that out there for the committee to consider.

Is it the will of the committee that we bring in these witnesses?

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Could I say one more thing, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

Yes.

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

These folks are the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and the Canadian Association for Community Living, so they are folks who are very involved in the disability community. When I mentioned to them that we may be studying this issue with our next study, they were very excited about it. So it wouldn't be a bad idea, even though the study won't have started, to bring them in and get their ideas as to what things we should look at. That's why I brought it forward.

I thank all of you for your indulgence.

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

Mr. Martin.

[Tony Martin, NDP, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Yes, I think that's a good idea.

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

A good idea all around?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

All right. Good. Then we'll go ahead and contact them and see if we can bring them in on the 28th.

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

Mr. Martin, I'm not sure if we're going to have time to look at this motion. We'll go over time, I guess. We can try to, anyway.

[Tony Martin, NDP, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

I want to get a feel for the room. If people may need more time to think about it further, we can come back another time.

The motion kind of speaks for itself. In light of the fact that in the not too distant future we'll be tabling a very significant and important report on poverty in the House, the first question that will come back at us, of course, will be: how much is this going to cost?

I think we have to be ready with answers to that question. This motion is an attempt to have some work done by people who would have access to that information, so that we could all have it at our disposal and be ready to share it with people who would ask that question. We could then position ourselves to be able to have the government actually take our report seriously and perhaps move on it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

Madam Folco, did you have a comment?

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Yes, thank you, Chair. I understood from reading the notice of motion that this was a request for the Treasury Board Secretariat to give us the information on what is happening right now. From what you've just said, Mr. Martin, I understand that you would like them to cost what we're going to be presenting in our poverty report. Am I wrong?

[Tony Martin, NDP, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

What I'd like to know is what they are spending right now.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Okay. That's what I understood first of all.

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

Does anybody else have a comment?

[Tony Martin, NDP, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

The issue is that there is a cost to poverty. There is a cost to not doing anything about poverty.

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

Would anybody else like to speak to this motion? Is there discussion on it?

Mr. Komarnicki.