Evidence of meeting #51 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was diversity.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director General, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch, Strategic Policy Sector, Department of Industry
That's all the way through from the beginning to the OIC approval of the new regs.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Okay, so 2019 is what we're looking at.
Mr. Speaker, my point is that 2019 is probably a good guess, depending on what takes place. As I said, the half year I've given in there as an advance has to be conservative, so to speak, of the time frame—or expedient. You add three years onto that and....
This is another question, Mr. Schaan. With the regulatory review, we're at 2019, then 2020, 2021, 2022. Say it's a three-year review, or say it's a two-year, three-year, or a five-year.... Regardless of the years, what takes place at that time? Does the legislation just hatch?
Director General, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch, Strategic Policy Sector, Department of Industry
I'm not sure I follow the question.
Director General, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch, Strategic Policy Sector, Department of Industry
Yes.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
—at that time period. Does it automatically come for review now in the system, and how long can that take before it actually gets to Parliament? Say, for example, on January 1 it comes into effect and it's due for a review. What's the process of getting it for review in front of committee?
Director General, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch, Strategic Policy Sector, Department of Industry
It depends on what the mechanism that's placed in the act is, so there are a number of mechanisms for review in an act. In this particular case, depending on each of the three motions, each one of them has a different mechanism. For this one it says, “every five years after that, a committee of the Senate and the House of Commons as may be designated or established” following the coming into force.
So there would be a designation being done by the Speaker to a committee.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Okay. What about my amendment on this or the Liberal one? I believe mine is similar to the Conservative; I could be wrong, though.
Director General, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch, Strategic Policy Sector, Department of Industry
I think yours are roughly similar.
NDP
Director General, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch, Strategic Policy Sector, Department of Industry
They're all to be referred to a committee, so it would be a decision of the Speaker immediately at that point.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
We would just need to have Parliament, obviously, sitting, so it requires Parliament to be sitting, and then since it's sitting, it just goes to the Speaker from somebody from the department or somewhere. Who identifies...? For example, it's not Mr. Regan anymore. I hope it is, but at any rate, as a deputy speaker for an NDP government, but that's another story.
At any rate, who brings it to them, and what's the time frame for that? How does it not get lost if there's no government or a changing government?
Director General, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch, Strategic Policy Sector, Department of Industry
That's a parliamentary procedure question that may be better handled by the legislative clerk than me.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Okay.
The bill ends, and it's the time frame, whether two, three, or five years. How does it get brought to a sitting Parliament and a non-sitting Parliament? What are the time frames for that? Who enforces that it actually comes up again? It is law, but I'm wondering if and how it can escape that process somehow. What do you do if there is no Speaker or the House is not sitting? What are the time frames, and then how much time does the Speaker have to actually bring this awareness to the House of Commons?
Philippe Méla Legislative Clerk
I can take a crack at it.
I'm not sure there's any enforcement mechanism. It's up to the department, I suppose, to report. If they don't do it, and as parliamentarians realize that the reporting mechanism wasn't made, they could bring it up to the Speaker, I suppose, and make it happen. Aside from that, I'm not so sure how the mechanism works.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Dan Ruimy
To further add to that, we've had cases where other parliamentarians have actually requested the review, and it's had to go through different committees. That is the potential mechanism so you could, theoretically, come back at that review point, and if you're not seeing action, you can write a letter saying this is the time for review. We've had that in this committee as well.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
That's actually quite helpful. So there's nothing that automatically then triggers it to happen, but it creates the potential then, I guess, for that. I guess it puts it in a system to be raised, so it kind of creates it as on-the-shelf ready for the minister or any parliamentarian.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's very helpful.
I guess we need Parliament in session at that particular time to have that take place. When we look at where we're at right now, 2017.... This is why it's important, and I appreciate the questions about it. Why I wanted to walk through this is that it is actually a five-year process in itself, so that's if we did it and we started doing it right away. Adding, then, another level to this—
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Yes. What I want is a quicker process for that. That's what it's about for the two- or three-year process that comes into place. It is just going to take that amount of time once it gets active. If we activate it earlier, then you're going to get a quicker return to the House of Commons.
NDP