Evidence of meeting #23 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was clause.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Tilson
And then I'll probably have one before you.
So we finished the bill.
Shall I report the bill as amended to the House?
Conservative
Rick Dykstra Conservative St. Catharines, ON
Just a question on that. I want to get clarification on how quickly we could get it back to the House.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Tilson
Monsieur St-Cyr has offered to report it on Friday. That's the earliest the staff can get it ready.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Tilson
I will not be present, but Monsieur St-Cyr has agreed to present it.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Tilson
We're almost there, folks.
Monsieur St-Cyr, you can get together with the clerk and work something out.
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Mr. Chair, that means the report stage will come on Wednesday, Tuesday, Monday...?
Conservative
Conservative
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Tilson
I hear no nays, so that's that.
It appears we've finished. Mr. Dykstra has asked to speak, and before he does that I want to congratulate the parties. A lot of work has been done behind the scenes on this. It's been quite amazing that we've done this in the few hours we've been here. But I know that hours and hours have been spent, particularly by the critics and the parliamentary secretary. I know I've had very little to do with that.
On behalf of the rest of the committee, I congratulate the critics and you, Mr. Parliamentary Secretary, for the hard work you've done. I expect there's been give and take on all sides, and you've done well. So congratulations.
Before Mr. Dykstra speaks, we still have another week left. I'm assuming we will not sit tomorrow, and I'm going to suggest a subcommittee meeting on Tuesday at 3:30. Unless someone has strong objections, the committee would not meet on Tuesday; we would have a subcommittee meeting on Tuesday at 3:30.
Ms. Chow.
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Just to make it simpler, would there be consensus while we're in that mode that next Tuesday, rather than a subcommittee, we deal with the consultant bill? It may get done by Tuesday or Thursday. It may not. It might be too complex.
No?
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Oh, pardon me. Oh, yes, it hasn't gone through second reading. I'm just way ahead of myself. Never mind. I forgot about second reading. Sorry, never mind.
Conservative
Conservative
Rick Dykstra Conservative St. Catharines, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm not going to be long. I know we've all been at this for a while, but I think it's important to note the work that has gone on here.
To you, Mr. Chair, for your ability to keep us moving forward, thank you very much. Aside from the budget bill, this is maybe one of the bigger bills that actually carries through the House of Commons. It's significant change, as you mentioned.
Mr. Bevilacqua said to me a couple of times that when it comes to refugee reform legislation, we get one chance at it every generation. This was our chance to do it, albeit it looked as if it were going in the wrong direction a couple of times—and one time in particular. We've been able to pull this thing back. We actually have something on the table. To all three of my critics, in working through this, certainly Maurizio originally was trying to move this forward, and over the last while both Mr. St-Cyr and Ms. Chow have come to the table on this and made sure that we moved the bill forward.
There's a lot of talk. There's a song by U2, which starts out by saying there's been a lot of talk about this song, and maybe too much talk. Quite frankly, I think there's been a lot of talk and probably too much talk about the fact that we can't work together.
From my perspective, and certainly from the government's perspective, this is an opportunity for all of us from a party perspective to have input into a significant piece of legislation, which in some respects we can all take credit for. So I say to the opposition, I think we did some great work here. We did some good work. We did things that are right for the country and certainly right in terms of moving forward on this legislation.
I want to credit the staff from the ministry as well. I know we're not supposed to name names and that you people are supposed to be oblivious to the whole process, but quite frankly, you did a hell of a lot of work, sometimes in a very short period of time. Mr. MacDougall, in particular, I have to cite you specifically for all of the efforts you put into this. Certainly from all of our perspectives and the government's perspective, it's because of your work and that of your team that we now have what we have. It was because of your efforts. Quite frankly, to each and every one of you, thank you for the work you do and for assisting all of us here who have had an impact on this process as parties—not just the government.
Last but not least, I would note that the folks who sit on this side of the House have had to endure a little bit of change and effort, and sometimes not always the kind of media you expect. We come here as individuals and we each work for the parties we represent, but I happen to think that today you can mark down in your books that in this 40th Parliament, we did something. We did something that means a lot to this country, and it's something that we all did, quite frankly, by participating and working together. So thank you to each and every one of you. I appreciate it.
