Evidence of meeting #63 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was board.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:55 p.m.
An hon. member
We freeze the clock.
12:55 p.m.
An hon. member
No, no, not freeze the clock.
12:55 p.m.
An hon. member
Yes, a motion to freeze the clock.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
We won't consent if you need unanimous consent.
12:55 p.m.
A voice
You don't need it.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Mr. Chair, we have places where, due to either man-made and/or natural disasters, the citizenship and immigration department has expedited family cases of individuals--after the tsunami, after Pakistan, certainly after Lebanon. There is strife right now in Lebanon. What I want to do is ask that we pass this motion that if there are people in the queue who are affected in Lebanon, and especially in the north part where all the strife is taking place, we ask the ministry to expedite their cases, once their health as well as the background checks have been done, and put them at the front of the line in order to unite them with their families in Canada, especially in Lebanon where there are difficulties right now.
12:55 p.m.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Thank you, Chair.
I appreciate Mr. Karygiannis bringing forward this motion, and I agree that there is a particular situation of importance in Lebanon. However, I don't think Lebanon is the only place where such a situation exists, and there are other places where people have immigration applications outstanding where they're also experiencing the ravages of war or civil strife or even a natural disaster, as Mr. Karygiannis mentioned.
So I'd like to propose an amendment that in the first line we delete the phrase “due to the continuing strife in Lebanon” and that in the third line we take out the words “the affected area” and replace that phrase with “areas affected by war, civil strife, or natural disaster”. So essentially we can say that there should be some attention and expedited processing for anyone who has an immigration application in from an area that's affected by war, civil strife, or natural disaster.
Chair, I believe that's often the practice of the department in any case. But I think it wouldn't hurt to make that very explicit. So I'd like to propose that amendment.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
Andrew Telegdi Liberal Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Chair, before we proceed, I make a motion that we freeze the clock at 1 o'clock, because there's another motion.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Norman Doyle
We're going to deal with your motion. We're dealing with all three motions, sir.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Is that unanimous consent that we deal with the motions?
1 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Norman Doyle
There's no unanimous consent required here, according to the clerk, and I'm relying on what the clerk is telling me.
Let's not get bogged down in these details. Let's do this.
Mr. Siksay.
1 p.m.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
I've just moved that amendment, Chair. Hopefully, members will find it....
1 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Norman Doyle
Let me find out about this now, because I don't want to step on anyone's toes here. I want to know.
Mr. Clerk, would you please educate me here with respect to the clock? What are the rules and regulations?
1 p.m.
The Clerk
Mr. Chair, the committee can sit for as long as it wishes to sit. Unanimous consent is not required to adjourn the meeting at any specific time.
1 p.m.
Conservative
1 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Norman Doyle
The only thing I'm concerned about is that the rules are being adhered to properly. I don't care what the point of it all is. If that's the rule, that's the rule.
1 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
It wasn't applied the same way just a couple of meetings back, to my recollection.
1 p.m.
Liberal
Andrew Telegdi Liberal Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Mr. Chair, just for his edification, we did freeze the clock when we passed the estimates.
1 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Norman Doyle
Let's not get bogged down in this. There seems to be consensus here that we deal with these motions before we...and we're wasting time here.
The motion by Mr. Karygiannis is being amended by Mr. Siksay. Let's do things properly here.
The amendment is that we take out of this motion “due to the continuing strife in Lebanon”, and also say, in the third line, “areas affected by war, civil strife, or natural disaster”.
Comments on the amendment? And please don't ask me to go to the motion. We will have comments on the amendment first.
On the amendment, Mr. Karygiannis.
1 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
I certainly welcome the amendment on the third line. However, I would like the first line to stand, please.
1 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
I have a point of order I wish to make.
Whenever a report is going to the House when we haven't heard any evidence on an issue or called any witnesses, I've taken objection every time, as a matter of principle. A report in the true sense means that you've heard something, you've seen something. You're making a report to the House.
We've been in the habit of just doing a motion in mid-air and saying let's report it as a report to the House. I think it's inappropriate to do that. We should have at least some evidence before us. We should have a hearing before us. We should consider and then do a report.
If we're going to do a report, then we should do a dissenting report--essentially, in this case, that this is not the way to do a report.