Evidence of meeting #146 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was turnbull.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Now he's making personal qualifications on another member here. Maybe we can take a step back on that. He's actually breaking the timeline down to four minutes. I mean, make the points, but—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Joël Lightbound
Thank you, Mr. Masse.
I was listening very closely to Mr. Turnbull because I think he has to tread carefully. However, I noted that he was talking about the fact that, for most members around this table, four minutes is not enough time to read 50 pages. He's been talking about himself as a member. He has been asked to vote on a motion—as are other members—and he wasn't targeting anyone in the last couple of minutes when I was listening to his speech, so I'll leave him to pursue that.
Conservative
Conservative
Jeremy Patzer Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
In the amount of time that Mr. Turnbull has been speaking, I was able to flip through all those documents, and I can tell you that there's nothing in there about reducing interchange fees or the counter-offers between the department and Visa and Mastercard. It was all copied and pasted, things such as a code of conduct, which wasn't even part of the request—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Joël Lightbound
Mr. Patzer, that's not a point of order. I'll add you to the list if you want.
I have Mr. Turnbull.
Liberal
Ryan Turnbull Liberal Whitby, ON
To my point, though, most of us have not had a chance. Mr. Patzer may have done a superficial flip through the documents, but personally, I would like the time to actually read through and see what was provided. I think that's pretty fair and realistic. There actually may be more than 50 pages of documents, and I think there are substantive pieces of information that this committee should take the time to review. I think that's more than fair.
If Canadians are watching this committee—I hope they are—the documents that have been provided were requested by this committee on a particularly important issue that we've chosen to study as a committee. I think all of us have specific concerns around interchange fees and making sure that we hold accountable both credit card companies and some of the other stakeholders involved in that complex system. We have very specific sets of information here that I really think it makes sense to review before we go requesting additional documentation.
That's my perspective on it. I think we should revisit this at a future meeting.
This is Mr. Patzer's motion, I believe, but maybe he could take the time to review it, and then we could discuss at a future meeting whether there's anything left that's desirable, so the committee can make its determinations around what's been provided.
Thank you, Chair.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Joël Lightbound
Mr. Turnbull, your timing is perfect, because we're at the end of this meeting. We'll have to bring this back at some later point.
I have Mr. Perkins.
Conservative
Rick Perkins Conservative South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
I'd like to seek unanimous consent, which I think there is in the committee, to move the following motion: “That the committee invite Minister François-Philippe Champagne to testify on supplementary estimates (B), 2024-25, for two hours by no later than the end of the current supply period.”
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Joël Lightbound
I'm looking around. Yes, it's the usual practice that we invite the minister on supplementary estimates.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Joël Lightbound
That is a fantastic note to end this meeting on. Thank you, Mr. Perkins, for bringing consensus right at the end.
Thank you all very much.
The meeting is adjourned.