Citizenship and Immigration Committee on June 9th, 2010

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I'm going to call the meeting to order.

This is the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, meeting number 23, Wednesday, June 9, 2010. The orders for the day are Bill C-11, an act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Federal Courts Act.

We are here today for clause-by-clause consideration. We have with us a number of the staff, who I will not introduce; you've met them all. But if there are questions on different sections or amendments, they can be asked of those people.

Thank you for coming and giving up your time today.

Monsieur Coderre, you have a point of order?

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

It might be just a point of clarification. I want to have the status on the motion that we were considering before. We were supposed to end that on June 3 at 23:59. Now we have another clause-by-clause, which means that everything we did before has collapsed. I'd like to understand where we're going now. We were supposed to be flexible, and we might have some other amendments that we could promote if we're able to consider that meeting in order.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I'm calling the meeting in order. It's at the call of the chair, and we are calling. I hope you've given us all your amendments, but if others surface, you're free to introduce them. Of course I would want time for me and the clerk to look at those amendments, but there's nothing out of order about members introducing amendments as we proceed.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Okay. And what's the status regarding the June 3 motion? What would be the timeframe?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

We're having a meeting today, Mr. Coderre. It's the call of the chair and I'm calling it.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I'm talking about the motion. We were supposed to end on June 3 because we wanted to table it before the end--

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

We're having a meeting right now to proceed with Bill C-11. I'm not going to get into a debate with you. If you want to challenge the chair that this meeting is not in order, you're welcome to. But I'm saying that this meeting is in order and that we're going to proceed.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

So the motion from June 3 is out? It's irrelevant today? I'm just asking.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Of course.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

This is June 9.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I hope that all of you have delivered the various amendments that you have, and I hope that all committee members have copies of those amendments. I guess we'll find out if you haven't as we proceed.

My question to the committee is are there groups of amendments or amendments that will not be proceeded with? If so, can you advise us about them now?

You're not going to tell us as we go along--is that what you're saying?

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

I think it would be simpler to delete the amendments as we go along.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Okay.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

In any case, they'll be in the reading book, and we'll think we did them yesterday.

We'll delete them as we go along, if any of them have to be deleted.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Fine.

You've seen the orders of the day. Consideration of clause 1 is postponed, so we will proceed to clause 2.

Mr. Bevilacqua.

[Maurizio Bevilacqua, Liberal, Vaughan, ON]

Does the out-of-order ruling still apply?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Maurizio Bevilacqua, Liberal, Vaughan, ON]

Before we left the last meeting, you gave me a list of NDP 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11. How are we going to deal with that? Are we going to just...?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I gave those to you outside the meeting in the hope that some of you might correct your amendments in light of the rulings I was making. I wanted to put you on notice, at least, that I was going to be making those rulings.

[Maurizio Bevilacqua, Liberal, Vaughan, ON]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I did this in the spirit of cooperation, in the hope that this would assist the process of these clause-by-clause discussions.

Ms. Chow.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

I assume we would proceed in this fashion: you would do a clause, and then, when we come to any of the amendments from the amendment package sent out earlier, you would go through the entire package and we would vote on each of them. Am I correct?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I'm going to run down the clauses. I'm at the mercy of the committee; I'll do what you people tell me to do. But what I was intending to do was run down the clauses and ask whether the clauses would carry. Whoever has an amendment can make one.

Monsieur Coderre.