Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Sept. 27th, 2011

[John Rafferty, NDP, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Yes, that it be composed of the chair, two vice-chairs—

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

So it would be five members, two from here, including the parliamentary secretary, right?

[John Rafferty, NDP, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Okay, so it would be the chair, two vice-chairs, and another member from the Conservative Party—

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Right.

[John Rafferty, NDP, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

That is what you said. Is that what you meant to say?

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Yes.

[John Rafferty, NDP, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Okay, I'm just clarifying that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Mr. Masse.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I think we need some clarification—

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

I just want to suggest that if Mr. Rickford has documents that can be distributed when we have motions that are being substantially changed like this, it might be helpful to moving things along if he does distribute them.

I don't know if you do have them available in both official languages, but it would be helpful.

To the motion, I'm just a little concerned, in the sense that although this is not my committee—I sit on another committee, so I'm just here as a substitute—you will have nearly 40% of the committee meeting as a subcommittee. You're almost defeating the purpose of a subcommittee, in my opinion. But that's just what I think.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Ms. Duncan.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Maybe we need to backtrack a bit for some clarification. Maybe that's where the confusion is.

I'm wondering if Mr. Rickford is presuming that the vice-chairs include a representative of the New Democrats and a representative of the Liberals.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Yes.

Pardon me. We already solidified that at the first meeting of this committee, that you are a vice-chair, as is Mr. Bevington.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Okay. So in fact, then, Mr. Rafferty's point was correct.

I'm still confused about what exactly was proposed. It's the chair, the two-vice chairs, the parliamentary secretary, and you're proposing an additional Conservative, and then you said another member of the opposition. Is that what you said?

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

No, another member of the Conservatives.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

So that was a mistake. It was an additional Conservative. That's one, two, three, four, five members.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

That would be five members of the subcommittee.

Sorry. I'm talking out of turn here, but that's—

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Well, Mr. Rickford, you are next on the speaking list.

Maybe for the benefit of all committee members—

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I'm not finished yet. Okay?

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Oh, pardon me.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I would like a rationale from Mr. Rickford as to why he is varying from the previous procedural rule, which was that the parliamentary secretary would not have a vote. Why is he now proposing that the parliamentary secretary have a vote?

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Mr. Rickford.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

That's a good question and the answer lies in the composition of the subcommittee.

First of all, respectfully, the proposal of these routine motions that I'm reading from was given to the critic for the NDP before the summer.

[A voice]

It was not. No.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Okay, but we discussed this.

I'm sorry. I thought maybe you had a copy of it.

There would be the parliamentary secretary and the Conservative member at subcommittee. We would not hold vice positions; they would go to the opposition. So there's four plus the chair, which is five members.