Evidence of meeting #1 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was clerk.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Chair, as part of the debate on the first amendment, can I subamend it, or am I outside the scope of the original amendment to propose this?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
I'm okay, because we seem to be arriving at a consensus. We have an amendment and there seems to be some consensus for September 30, but more clarification is needed on the scheduling of the meetings.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Chair, I will add a subamendment, then.
After the date, I will add, “and that the chair should endeavour to schedule one to two of these meetings per month.”
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
The clerk has just asked me to repeat it: “The chair should endeavour to hold one to two of these meetings per month.”
I'm giving you a little wiggle room, Chair, but I don't want you to use it.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
You only control one side of it, Mr. Genuis.
Just so that everybody is clear on the words....
Liberal
The Clerk
The verbiage would be, “Statistics Canada has identified that more than one in five returning students are unemployed this summer. Therefore, the committee agrees that in the face of this student unemployment crisis, and given that Parliament did not sit at all this year until until May 26, this committee conduct a study of the student unemployment crisis pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), consisting of at least five meetings, and with all hearings to occur before September 30, 2025, and that the chair should endeavour to schedule one or two of these meetings per month. Parliamentarians must be prepared to get to work this summer so that unemployed students can get to work as well.”
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Clerk.
Does anybody have any questions on the motion as it was phrased by the clerk, which accommodates an amendment and a subamendment?
Go ahead, Madam Koutrakis.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
I'll get the clerk to read the motion that reflects the amendment of Madam Koutrakis and the proposed subamendment of Mr. Genuis.
One more time, Clerk, read the motion as it would now be phrased.
The Clerk
“Statistics Canada has identified that more than one in five returning students are unemployed this summer. Therefore, the committee agrees that in the face of this student unemployment crisis, and given that Parliament did not sit at all this year until May 26, this committee conduct a study of the student unemployment crisis pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), consisting of at least five meetings, and with all hearings to occur before September 30, 2025, and that the chair should endeavour to schedule one or two of these meetings per month. Parliamentarians must be prepared to get to work this summer so that unemployed students can get to work as well.”
Bloc
Marilène Gill Bloc Côte-Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I don't know if my colleague, Mr. Genuis, takes the summer off, but I think everyone works during the summer, and more than full time, too.
I just wanted to comment on the subamendment, which I will vote against, of course. This seems to me to be a way around Standing Order 106(4). I think it's very clever of my Conservative colleagues to give a study priority by imposing dates rather than by going through the usual procedure to ask for a meeting under Standing Order 106(4). After all, it's usually up to the subcommittee to meet and decide on the order of priority for various studies, and I'm sure there will be several notices of motion on the table.
I just wanted to put that observation on the record.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
That's where I'm going. Thank you, Ms. Gill.
Given that I see no consensus in the room, I'm going to begin with a vote on the subamendment.
So that we're clear, the subamendment by Mr. Genuis to the amendment of Ms. Koutrakis would read as follows: “That the chair should endeavour to schedule one or two of these meetings per month”. We're voting on that one. Then the amendment would be the date in September.
Are we clear, Madame Gill? Good.
Okay, seeing no further discussion, Clerk, I'll call a recorded vote on the subamendment of Mr. Genuis, which would request the chair to schedule one or two meetings per month on the motion, if it is adopted.
(Subamendment negatived: nays 5; yeas 4)
We will now go to a vote on the amendment, which moves the timeline to September 30.
Clerk, we will have a recorded vote on the amendment of Ms. Koutrakis.
(Amendment agreed to: yeas 5; nays 4 [See Minutes of Proceedings])
We'll now call a vote on the motion as amended.
Clerk, we'll have a recorded vote on the motion of Mr. Genuis, as amended.
(Motion as amended negatived: nays 5; yeas 4 [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Go ahead, Mr. Genuis.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Chair, I have a hard time understanding what happened in the vote, because we had a discussion in which Liberal members said they wanted this study to happen on student unemployment. They got the adoption of their amendment, which extended the study until September 30, yet they still voted against the study.
If we're serious about addressing the issue of student unemployment, we put forward a motion to do that. Then the Liberals amended this motion, and then they voted against it anyway. That's pretty surprising.
I don't want to sour the first meeting by suggesting that there was insincerity, but can we come to some kind of understanding about whether you want to address the issue of student unemployment or not? We're interested in doing that. If that means meeting in August or in September instead of in July, that's not my preference, but that's okay. However, you just voted against studying student unemployment at all.
Can we come to some understanding, or do we have to go out and observe that there wasn't interest in studying this issue after all?
I hope we can come up with something together, so I'll put it out for discussion.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Okay, it will be a recorded vote to adjourn.
(Motion agreed to: yeas 6; nays 3 [See Minutes of Proceedings])
The meeting is adjourned.
