Evidence of meeting #131 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was countries.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
Can I bring us back to order, please?
We're going to reconvene this second panel with Professor Milner. We've invited him particularly around the issues of the global compact and his work, partly because I read a good article in the newspaper about his work. I thought that was quite important, and I think it's going to help us lay a framework as well—
Yes?
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Just as a point of clarification, is this constituting half of the meeting for the...? Were we given notice that this was constituting half of the meeting?
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
No, because it's part of the study. It would be simply part of the study.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
I would move that the committee instruct the chair to give participants notice when he is planning on arbitrarily assigning half of a meeting to this particular issue.
I move it, and my rationale is this. I think it is a topic that the chair himself argued was a subtopic within, and if all we see is a witness's name, not understanding that this was part of a sub-study scope, I think it's just kind of beating around the bush. Perhaps we could have better prepared. I would ask my colleagues that perhaps, just out of courtesy, the chair would inform committee when he is doing such a thing.
Also, my understanding was that we had had some time to talk about witnesses for this, so I'm wondering how witnesses were selected for this sub-study and why we only have one person on a panel. When this is half of a meeting and we have only one witness here, that seems like a bit of a waste of time—
November 6th, 2018 / 4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
I will tell you that we are doing it because the parties did not submit witnesses by the deadline. When I received zero witnesses by the deadline, which the committee knew about and you agreed to, I continued to work.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
That's what I needed to do as the chair of the committee to keep the work of the committee going. I will just tell the committee in public that zero witnesses were presented by the parties.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Chair, in that scenario, wouldn't it be incumbent upon yourself, given that this just happened on Tuesday, I believe?
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
I'm not asking for babysitting, Mr. Chair. I believe that was an incendiary remark. We're trying to....
I believe you're supposed to be neutral. I am saying that given the weight of this topic, if there was a concern about the witnesses or certainly if you're scheduling witnesses who have requested to appear on this topic, it would be courteous—not out of any sort of particular motive that you've just described—to let people know that you are now using half a meeting for this topic.
In the future, I would ask that when you are assigning to the sub-study, you give committee members appropriate notice.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
The analyst just reminded me that there is notice in the briefing notes.
How else, exactly, do you think you should be notified of deadlines for witnesses, other than the briefing notes, or that this is with respect to the global compacts?
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Again, my initial question and clarification was about if you were allocating this as half of the meeting.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
You have said that. In the future, I would just say that.... We have three and a half meetings left, right? If you could just note in the briefing notes when you are actually taking that time away so that we don't have this conversation each meeting, that would be wonderful.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
Mr. Chairman, if you're saying that none of the three parties submitted witnesses, I'm concerned that we have too many meetings.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
If that's the case, I don't think that automatically gives the chairman the right to set up witnesses.
With due respect to you, sir, I think that if that's the case, then you don't have that right, and what should have happened and still should happen is that a subcommittee meeting be called to discuss this matter that we've run out of witnesses, or if there are no more witnesses at the deadline, that a subcommittee meeting be called so that this issue can be discussed and perhaps a review be done of whether the study is going on too long.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
I will explain to the committee that Professor Milner was actually on the original list of witnesses submitted. We have been attempting to schedule him, but he has an extensive travel schedule.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
I'm actually going to rule you out of order at this point because we do not have any topic of business on which you are doing your intervention.
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
Well, I'm speaking to the motion. There's a motion on the floor, and I have a right to speak to the motion. You can't rule me out of order. I'm speaking to the motion.