Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Oct. 14th, 2020

[The Clerk]

Yes, of course.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Thank you. It was at 11:23. That was 10 minutes ago. There are English and French versions there. My staff are doing their best to use their French skills.

[The Clerk]

I'll ask the committee assistant to take a look at all of our correspondence and confirm with me. I'll advise the chair directly. When we find it, we'll distribute it without delay to the committee. We already have instructions to do that. We'll make sure it goes out the door immediately. We're actively looking for it right now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Ms. Normandin.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

I voted against the motion because I didn't want the meeting to end abruptly if we were about to receive the translated version. I would, however, move that the sitting be suspended momentarily, just long enough to receive the motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We have Ms. Normandin's motion to suspend the meeting for a few minutes. All in—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, can I interject for a minute?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We have a motion by Ms. Normandin to suspend the meeting for a few minutes.

All those in favour?

(Motion agreed to)

The meeting is suspended for five minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I would like to restart the meeting.

Ms. Dancho.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Thank you, Madam Chair, I appreciate that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We have a point of order.

Mr. Serré.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair.

I wanted to give an opportunity for the honourable member Dancho to correct the record. Earlier her comment was a bit insulting of Parliament, in her saying that the reason we are meeting via Zoom is the Liberal government and COVID. It was the will of Parliament to meet by Zoom and to have a hybrid Parliament.

Also, I would like her to clarify for the record that she is stating that we should have all 338 MPs physically present in Parliament.

There is a reason we have Zoom.

I want a clarification because for the member to put all on this on the Liberal government is misleading and false.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Madam Chair, I'm happy to respond.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

We could debate this all day, but it's insulting to an MP. The alternative is for us all to be present in Parliament.

We chose this as Parliament and as the government. Yes, we would all like to be present in the House of Commons, but because of the pandemic and the risks of travelling from coast to coast to coast, it would not be safe to do so.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Madam Chair, this is moving into debate. I wish to address the concerns.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you for the time, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Ms. Dancho.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the member's comments.

I don't wish to insult Parliament. I completely understand the pandemic and I wish to withdraw that comment.

The second thing I'd like to talk about is the prioritization suggested by Madame Normandin. It is a good point. I believe the standard procedure for a committee is that the clerk works with the chair and vice-chairs. I would also suggest that our NDP colleague should develop a work plan that works well to allow for robust discussion on each of the 10 items in my motion. Each item is equally important.

With that I move to vote on this motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Ms. Dancho.

I have a list of people who would like to speak, so you cannot move on—

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Madam Chair, if that is the case, I move to extend the time. We are running out of time. We have lost 10 minutes to technicalities and 13 minutes to a suspension.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We have a speaking list, so we will go with it. Meanwhile, I will clarify with the clerk the time that we have.

We have Mr. Dhaliwal next and then Ms. Kwan.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Madam Chair, MP Dancho was saying that we should extend the meeting, but we are all busy with other things. I have another committee meeting to go to and other meetings set up, so I would not be able to support going beyond 10 o'clock.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We have Ms. Kwan on the list. Ms Kwan, please.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much. I will be very brief: I will support the motion.

The length of the motion, how many meetings to hold and the order of the subcomponents of the motion should be determined at subcommittee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We have Ms. Martinez Ferrada next on the list.