Evidence of meeting #2 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Maurice Vellacott
You're talking about the Federal Accountability Act with respect to how it impacts first nations.
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
What I would like to follow up on that is perhaps for you, as chair, to request a joint meeting with the special committee that is dealing with the Federal Accountability Act to look specifically at the issue of accountability for first nations on reserve and the measures that the government intends to introduce.
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
To have a joint meeting with that special committee to look at the matters.
I'm not putting this forward as a motion. I'm asking you to explore it, to look at a potential joint meeting with that special committee when it looks at aboriginal accountability and the matters related to it. It's a serious issue for many communities throughout the country, and I think we need to follow up on that.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Maurice Vellacott
Okay. We can make some queries on that, because I'm a little unsure of how we would undertake a meeting.
When you say a joint meeting, we have no status at that committee, as best I understand. Are you proposing that we attend as observers?
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
No, I'm proposing that we have a joint meeting of both committees. I know it has been done before. I'm just asking you to explore it, but for the specific purposes of looking at first nations, how the proposed Federal Accountability Act affects first nations.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Maurice Vellacott
So whereas these members have full status at that committee, at that particular hearing, is that what you're suggesting we explore?
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
What I'm suggesting is that we all have full status at that committee, that we join them or they join us. But they're seized with the review of that act, so perhaps we could join them for an official meeting when they deal with that aspect of the Federal Accountability Act.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Maurice Vellacott
Okay. I would suggest as well, Anita, that you put a motion together to that effect. So I can make the query--
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
Before I do that, I'm asking you to explore the possibility of it.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Maurice Vellacott
I'm just thinking potentially down the road, if we get rebuffed to say, no, that isn't permitted or isn't the norm, then I would think we may have to proceed as a committee, if we make inquiries or whatever. We can make the initial queries, but I'm just preparing us so that if that's rebuffed, we'll have to take another approach on that. But with the clerks, we can undertake to make a query.
Okay, Monsieur Lemay, are you proposing that we adjourn the meeting?
Bloc
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
We have to remember that we only have about eight meetings of two hours each left. I have a suggestion to make to my colleagues. In the shopping list we are going to be sending to our extraordinary clerk, each party could choose the topic it feels is the most important of them all. I suspect that my colleagues from the Liberal Party will want to talk about the Kelowna Accord, and I respect that choice.
The Bloc Québécois may prioritize housing. We would have to begin as early as Monday. After Monday's meeting there will only be seven meetings left unless our colleagues extend the session until the end of the month of June. That would surprise me, however.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Maurice Vellacott
I think I'll direct our clerk to actually list all those things so people can indicate their choices from one to twelve. It would be kind of nice to have those back in by Monday, but I don't know if we're going to be able to manage that time-wise. If we do, you'll probably see on your desk, as we come to that meeting, all of the things listed that we discussed today, in addition to whatever email suggestions come in on topics we'll undertake as a committee. I'm suggesting you list choices one to twelve, or whatever, in the order you want, and we will try to do a tally of those things that rank the highest, down to the bottom.
Does that make sense? Hopefully out of that you'll get a clear picture of what the top two or three will be. Obviously we'll run out of time by June.
Liberal
Conservative
Conservative
