Industry Committee on Dec. 12th, 2022

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Could I ask a question, to make sure I've understood properly?

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Of course.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Usually, a minister can only be invited once during a particular study. In other words, if we invite the minister at the beginning of our study, we can't invite him again at a later date.

If we happen to learn new information from other committees, the media or the investigation itself, we will not be able to invite the minister back to hear him on this issue, since he will already have come before the committee. Accordingly, it would be better for us to invite only Mr. Mendicino and to invite Mr. Champagne to appear before the committee later, if necessary.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

It is always an option to invite a minister to appear before committee again, during a study.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Okay.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

They don't have to come.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

No, that's right. Sometimes, it's easier said than done, since ministers have so much on their plate.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

In other words, ministers don't usually come before committee a second time. They appear once, but it's more difficult to have them come back. In this case, we would do better to keep that option open.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

It's not impossible. That said, I think everyone around the table agrees on that proposal, but I'll stop there.

At this time, we will proceed to a vote on the subamendment, which includes Minister Champagne's appearance before committee.

(Subamendment negatived: nays 6; yeas 5)

That brings us to a vote on the amendment proposed by Mr. Lemire, which is essentially the same thing, but that the committee invite, in the shortest delay, the hon. Marco Mendicino, the Minister of Public Safety.

I suggest we proceed to a vote on this amendment.

(Amendment agreed to: yeas 11; nays 0)

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

I will now call a vote on the motion as amended by the amendment.

Just by looking around the table I can tell there is consensus and we don't need to go to a recorded vote. Silence implies consent.

(Motion as amended agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

We will now hear from Mr. Lemire on the other motion he wanted to propose.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I move the following motion:

That the Committee, as soon as possible, invite the Honourable François‑Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, to answer any questions that the members of the Committee deem relevant.

I want the minister to appear this week, or maybe next week or in early January, but absolutely before the next session starts.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

I'm sure that Mr. Champagne will be available. He works very hard.

Has everyone fully understood the motion now before the committee seeking to invite Mr. Champagne to appear?

Do we need to proceed to a recorded vote? If there is no debate and no one disagrees, I will declare the motion carried.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Chair, I need some clarification.

I think this is an in camera meeting. Do we need to go public to make this information available?

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

This is not an in camera meeting, Mr. Lemire.

Why would you want to go to a public meeting?

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Since this is a public meeting, that's fine, that answers my question. I'm sorry, my mistake, Mr. Chair. I thought this was an in camera meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

No problem.

Mr. Dong.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to quickly ask a question of Sébastien.

To call the industry minister, is there any topic or parameter, or are we just inviting him to talk about everything regarding his ministry?

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

The only requirement is that we have at least two hours for the minister to answer questions on matters under his responsibility. Obviously that includes the estimates, but I think it will be useful to ask him questions on all the files pertaining to his department.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

I'm sure he will be happy to do that. In fact, he was sorry he wasn't able to join us this morning.

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

The clerk will then invite the minister to appear before the committee as soon as possible, as stated in the motion adopted in committee today.

I want to thank you all for your cooperation and hard work.

The meeting is adjourned.