Evidence of meeting #1 for Subcommittee on International Human Rights in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
All right. The next one....
(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Next one, all in favour?
(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
That the clerk of the subcommittee be authorized to distribute to members of the subcommittee...in both official languages.
(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Working meals when needed....
(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
That one copy of the transcript of all in camera meetings be kept.
(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
All right, we have consensus on that.
I'm going to ask our clerk...because we just got this going and the meeting tonight was really only to elect the chair and the vice-chairs.
What time allocation do we have or can we get?
The Clerk
The subcommittee normally meets once a week and can meet only when the main committee isn't meeting. The time set aside is 5:30 to 7:30, but you can meet at other times if all members can find a time when everybody is available.
The Clerk
I've looked just generally at the membership, and it seems that Thursday morning most people don't have a committee meeting.
Liberal
Mario Silva Liberal Davenport, ON
Monday is out, but Thursday I could do maybe from eleven to twelve.
Conservative
Ted Menzies Conservative Macleod, AB
I have the trade committee from nine until eleven, usually on Thursday also. Are you nine to eleven?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Now that we know the membership of this committee, it might be worthwhile to submit to our clerk which committees you serve on and the times when you meet, and we'll take a look to see what options are there.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
They can work out those details. If not, we may be looking at Tuesday from 5:30 to 7:30—and I know that's a terrible time.
So get those to the clerk. Probably at the next meeting we will talk about putting forward a steering.... We would have a mandate from the committee, but as far as witness lists and specific topics of study are concerned, I know I've had a couple of letters already about human rights violations in the Philippines and other places that somebody should be looking at, according to them.
Would the proper process be to have a steering committee sit down, or no? Do we do it at committee business, future business? All right, let's do that. There's no use for a steering committee in a small group. So at a future meeting, then, we could deal with future business. Do you want to deal with that tonight?
Liberal
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
It gives you time to think about it a little bit.
I wasn't even certain who all was on this committee until tonight, so welcome here. I think it's a great committee. Not just for your people back home, but I think when you leave Parliament, you want to be able to say you tried to make a difference in some area. This is a great area that we can be involved in to better not just human rights problems here but around the world. So I commend you all for either signing up for this committee or for being drafted.
Conservative
Ted Menzies Conservative Macleod, AB
I'm jumping aside on protocol. Do we have a bit of a summation of what the previous committee looked at, so that we don't re-plough the same ground?
Conservative
Ted Menzies Conservative Macleod, AB
I guess have it here. I just haven't had the chance to read it then. Okay.
Gerald Schmitz Committee Researcher
On this point, there's also an unfinished business section about some of the pending possibilities, from where the last subcommittee left off. But that doesn't preclude the new subcommittee from going in another direction altogether.
