Evidence of meeting #136 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was procurement.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Patrick Weiler
Thank you, Mr. Lemire.
With that, we'll go to the last questioner in our third panel.
Ms. Idlout, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.
NDP
Lori Idlout NDP Nunavut, NU
Qujannamiik.
Just very quickly, understanding that you've had a lot of experience accepting or rejecting people who want to be included in your membership list as Métis, could you share with us the percentage of applicants you've identified as being fraudulent or not Métis?
President, Otipemisiwak Métis Government
I don't think we have those numbers with us.
NDP
Lori Idlout NDP Nunavut, NU
Would you at a later point be willing to share in a written response the numbers—not the people, just the numbers—of those who tried to apply to be part of MNA and whom you've had to reject?
President, Otipemisiwak Métis Government
Yes. I can ask our registrar for that information.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Patrick Weiler
Thank you very much, Ms. Idlout.
That concludes our third panel.
I want to sincerely thank Ms. Sandmaier and Mr. Tomlinson not just for appearing and for being witnesses this evening but also for being flexible and appearing at this hour, given the delays we had with votes.
I also want to thank all of our audience for being here today to witness this.
Before we wrap up, I know that Mr. Schmale had a question he wanted to ask.
Conservative
Jamie Schmale Conservative Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON
Thank you, Chair.
I just want to continue the conversation we were having off-line. It's more to fill in the rest of the committee members who might not have been part of that. It was in regard to the business partners of Mr. Boissonnault listed in the order. I know there was some difficulty in trying to track them down.
Perhaps you, or the clerk through you, could give this committee an update on where that location process currently stands.
Nancy Vohl Procedural Clerk
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Malachie and I have been actively working on trying to find Felix Papineau and Shawna Parker. We do have different email addresses. We do have phone numbers. We do have a potential social media account, which is not especially reliable. We do have emails and phone numbers. We did send emails. We did leave voice mails, quite a few, and had no answer back.
At this point, there is nothing the clerk can do to pass on the invitation if the person doesn't get back to us. We have been actively working with the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms and also the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel to see other avenues to be in touch and actually be successful at getting in touch with the two persons mentioned.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Patrick Weiler
I want to quickly go to Mr. Genuis, who might want to make a quick point on this too.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Yes. I have a couple of questions on that.
My understanding is that there's a House order for them to appear, which means that the Sergeant-at-Arms can already take steps to have them appear. Maybe you can clarify that.
Second, have you been in touch with Randy Boissonnault or with his office? He may have some information about how to find his former business associates.
I mean, if they're trying to hide from us, that makes your job more difficult. Mr. Boissonnault may know something. Obviously, the Sergeant-at-Arms will have additional tools.
Procedural Clerk
We do have information on how to contact them. We do have emails, as I said. We do have phone numbers. Voice mails were left. Emails were sent. If they don't get back to us, we cannot move on with the process.
We have been in touch with the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms and with the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel. At this point, that's where we're at. We are looking at other ways to find them. As a general clerk who is not a private investigator.... We're just procedural clerks. We are looking at options or tools that they may have access to that I do not as a procedural clerk.
This is where we're at.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Can I just follow up with a quick question, then?
I understand that your role is not the same as that of the Sergeant-at-Arms, but does the House order provide the Sergeant-at-Arms with the tools to compel their appearance, given that we have a House order?
Procedural Clerk
Well, there is the motion of the House, and of this committee. There are also other motions at other committees, which may be different. For example, my committee has an order to summon the two individuals. This is why I'm also here with Malachie, and this is where we are at now.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
I'll just put on the record that it would be a bit crazy if an order of the House of Commons stopped at, “Well, we sent an email and they didn't reply.”
They have to appear. I think members agreed that they have to appear. I understand that everybody has a different role within this place in terms of what they can do, but we would be making a mockery of our institutions if we just accepted that you could not reply to an email and that's your way to avoid accountability. That doesn't even work for library books, let alone summonses to committees.
Procedural Clerk
That is why we are still actively working on this. Trust me; we are.
Liberal
Liberal
