Evidence of meeting #25 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was supply.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Bonita Zarrillo NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Yes, please, the motion that was passed at the last committee.
The Clerk
The first was:
That, in accordance with the request of the Standing Committee on Finance, the committee hold three meetings prior to Friday, May 27, 2022, to consider the subject matter of Part 5, Divisions 26, 27, 29 and 32 of Bill C-19....
The second motion was related to the ministers. It was agreed as follows:
That the Minister of Labour and the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion be invited to appear before the committee in the context of the subject matter of Part 5, Divisions 26, 27, 29 and 32 of Bill C-19....
NDP
Bonita Zarrillo NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Thank you so much. I just wanted to understand whether we were looking exclusively for the ministers.
I want to make a comment for the record that I did not submit any witnesses. I think it was stated earlier that all parties submitted witnesses. I just want to make it clear that I haven't submitted any witnesses outside of that. I didn't submit for the ministers, because I felt it was part of the motion.
Thank you very much.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
I have Madame Ferrada, then Mr. Ruff and Madame Chabot, and then Mr. Liepert has his hand up.
Liberal
Soraya Martinez Ferrada Liberal Hochelaga, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
After hearing all the comments, I would like to put forward a motion to ensure that we will be able to provide the Standing Committee on Finance with a document and that the department has enough time to work on the study.
I'll have the motion sent out to everyone. It reads as follows:
That, pursuant to the motion adopted by the Standing Committee on Finance on Thursday, May 12, 2022, inviting the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities to study the subject matter of the Part 5, Divisions 26, 27, 29 and 32 of Bill C‑19, and taking into consideration the uncertainty of the availability of the House of Commons services during the week of May 24, 2022:
(a) the committee invite relevant officials from the Department of Employment and Social Development for one hour studying Part 5, Divisions 26, 27, 29 and 32 of Bill C‑19;
(b) during the second hour of that same meeting, the committee provide drafting instructions for a letter to the Chair of the Standing Committee on Finance, containing recommendations in relation to the provisions studied by the committee.
The reason for the motion is to ensure that we hold not only two meetings, but also a two-hour meeting. If I understand correctly, the meeting will take place next Thursday.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
We have a motion on the floor.
Is there discussion on the motion?
Oh, sorry, Madam Kusie. Go ahead.
Conservative
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
No worries.
Soraya, you wrote that beautifully. Is it available in both official languages, please, so that I can have all of my colleagues look at it?
Bloc
Louise Chabot Bloc Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
I haven't received the motion yet, but I can still comment.
As I understand it, we would hold only one meeting, taking place on Thursday, instead of three meetings. I am completely opposed to that.
I was in favour of hearing from witnesses over two days. It is now almost six o'clock on Thursday. We provided the list of five witnesses whom we would like to invite, but we don't know whether all of them will be able to appear. If we want to make sure we can hear from them, we need two days to do it. I think the department officials will certainly be able to appear before the committee.
The committee should invite the witnesses to appear over two days. We talked about inviting the ministers over three days. I propose that we invite them over two days, because it will be tough to have them over three days. When the ministers appear, they are joined by department officials.
No one should be expected to do the impossible, but the witnesses should be a priority.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you.
Ms. Kusie, go ahead on the motion that's currently on the floor.
Conservative
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Can we have it written and in both official languages, please?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
I have now been advised that it has been circulated in both languages.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
The motion is in order. It's under discussion on the floor.
Go ahead, Mr. Ruff.
Conservative
Alex Ruff Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
I'm just looking at it here. I mean, we have confirmation, so the motion is already about availability. We do know that we have the two meetings. I get the witnesses. I get that we still haven't heard back from the ministers.
My proposal is that we book the witnesses for Tuesday and maybe the first half of Thursday, and then we take the second hour just to go through and finalize our report. That would give the clerk and the team enough time to get the report drafted and emailed out to everybody. If there's no push-back, it can be turned in by 4 p.m. on Friday.
I disagree with the motion.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
The motion is on the floor. If it is not amended, we'll call for a vote on the motion that's currently before the committee.
NDP
Bonita Zarrillo NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
On the initial motion when we were asking for the ministers to come, did I hear that the support staff would accompany the ministers? Is that usually the case?
NDP
Bonita Zarrillo NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Okay, so we would have needed to have extra time for the ministers and then extra time for support staff or for the staff who are running the organization. Is that right?
Liberal