Before I get into this, let me do a couple of introductions.
We have two analysts with us as well as our long-time clerk. Erin Shaw is our long-time analyst, and Miguel Bernal-Castillero is our other analyst. They are bringing to us the high level of confidence the Library of Parliament always brings.
What I wanted to talk to you about today, colleagues, is the consensus practices of the committee and how these intersect on the one hand with the rules, and on the other hand with the need to be efficient and get work done, which of course is everybody's desire.
This subcommittee is known for its long-standing practice of operating by consensus. Today I want to take a few minutes to outline the ways in which I will attempt to respect this subcommittee's practice while remaining fully compliant with my obligations under the Standing Orders, which are designed to facilitate discussion and decision-making in a non-consensus or partisan environment.
I also want to do a brief summary of the agenda-setting practices that seem to have been articulated by members of this subcommittee, including some practices that were discussed at considerable length last June shortly before we rose for the summer. From the perspective of the rules that dictate its conduct, this subcommittee is exactly like all the others.
The rules that govern us whenever we are not operating on a consensus basis are exactly the same as the rules that govern every other committee. A consensus requires universal consent. So any member may at any time at his or her exclusive discretion require a vote, require that a vote be recorded, seek to amend a motion that may not have been approved by the mover of that initial motion, or any other non-consensus activity.
Whenever any member does this, my job is to respect the rules, which means moving away from the consensus model to what I'm calling the partisan model. I will never prevent members of the committee from commenting on the change of the model, or from encouraging their colleagues to seek consensus, but the end result will always be the same. Every member has the right to act in a non-consensus manner whenever he or she chooses, and should not be criticized for that, because that's how our system is established.
My practice will be to seek a return to the consensus model as soon as possible once a non-consensus item of business has been disposed of or dispensed with. I think that's the model preferred by everybody when it is available to us.
Now I'll proceed to the second topic.
At the time the House rose, my sense was the subcommittee wanted to adopt five practices. Although we didn't enumerate them, it seemed there were five practices we wanted to adopt for choosing the subject matter to undertake for our study. I bring this up now because we have to choose our subject matter all over again.
Three of these practices were ones that I had articulated at the beginning of the session. The fourth and fifth emerged from the discussions of last June.
One, when possible we, which means you, should choose subject matter on which a consensus seems likely to exist. It's my experience that any hearings in which the human rights issue at hand becomes a proxy for some other issue will inevitably depart from the consensus model. A review of our records suggests that we have remained most consensual when dealing with subject matter that has not been seen as drawing its importance from broader considerations about any “ism”—capitalism, socialism, neo-colonialism, Bolivarianism, etc.
Two, when possible the subject matter should be timely. That is to say, it should be possible to conduct hearings and prepare for them in a fashion that will not be made irrelevant by the passage time. This means that sometimes we must accept that events in this country or that country are too fluid for a committee like ours to consider effectively.
It also means that we have to take into account the fact that we will simply run out of time at some point in 2015. My guess is that the 41st Parliament will not sit any later than June 2015, as the election will take place in October 2015, and there's a summer break in between. That's my guess, but remember, our deadlines will be tighter than that, as any report we prepare must be reviewed by the foreign affairs committee before being made public and sent to the House.
The first such deadline we face of course is this Christmas break, which will happen all too soon. This committee will have only eight meetings between today and the day on which the House rises for the holidays. That gives you some sense of how precious time is to us.
Three, when possible we should focus on situations where Canada has international clout. Of course, we're not one of the world's great powers and there are many parts of the world where what Canadians think and feel is of little practical consequence, but there are other areas in the world where Canadian influence is significant, and it's towards those states, so it seems to me, that we ought to direct our attention.
Canada gets its influence in a variety of ways: commercial links, alliances, shared history, such as, for example, the Commonwealth, la Francophonie, etc. It's up to you to decide whether we Canadians have a chance of actually making a difference on the ground.
Two new items that came out of discussions in June are items four and five.
Four, we should keep our inquiries tightly focused. In the past, there have been circumstances in which tangential issues have been introduced into hearings which had started out with a fairly narrow focus; that is to say, we've stretched the bounds of whatever motion had been placed before the committee and adopted by the committee. This seems to be unsatisfactory to the subcommittee, but it's easier to want to avoid this situation than it is to actually avoid the situation. Here's what I suggest.
If the committee is supportive, in the future I propose the chair should interpret all motions to study this or that situation in as narrow a manner as the wording of the motion permits. If the subcommittee regards the interpretation that I've given as being too narrow, any of you will be in a position to correct me and say that I'm going too much in the other direction. I will not regard that as a slight; I'll regard that as helpful advice.
It may also turn out that the committee will decide what really should happen is the motion should be reworded and amended to allow a broader discussion to occur, but we'll start by treating these motions narrowly. In practice, this will mean disallowing witnesses who are likely to be presenting outside the scope of the motion. It also will mean if a witness comes before the subcommittee and starts presenting off the topic that we thought they were going to present on and on some other topic—I can think of one example; I suspect we can all think of the same example, where we thought a witness was going to talk about the situation in country A, which was the subject of the motion, and instead talked at great length about country B, which does share a border with country A, but was definitely not part of that motion—in the future I will be much firmer about that, and just cut them off.
Now, that doesn't apply to questions you ask. You're free to ask about anything. Seeking out implications are part of your job, but they're not part of a witness's presentation when they have essentially contracted with this committee to stay within the range of the motion that we had presented them.
I think this will help somewhat, but I can only do it if there's a consensus that it's appropriate for me to act in this fashion, and if I get feedback indicating whether or not I am doing it in a way that's satisfactory to the committee. If it isn't, then I'll return to the past practice of being very permissive, allowing wide latitude, and things, I think, will simply be as they were previously.
Five is the last point. We should keep the number of subjects on our agenda lower rather than higher. This is a resolution that was expressed very strongly at the end of our session last June. I think we're all aware that a resolution is easier to establish than it is to actually follow.
I think we all understand the basic problem. People from this or that community approach one of us, sometimes it's several of us, with a genuine human tragedy somewhere in the world, and we seek to show our compassion by proposing a motion that this particular tragedy be the subject of a hearing or a series of hearings. This is a natural and humane sentiment, but the danger is, as one member of the subcommittee put it last June, that we can fall victim to what he referred to as “committee ADD”.
I have no specific recommendations to make on this point. It's not the role of the chair to place limits on the right of members to move additional motions on additional topics. I merely alert you to the presence of a point of consensus from last June that is going to be at perpetual odds with the humane instinct that I know is the prime motivation of every member of the subcommittee.
However, I do propose to do one thing in this regard. I propose to routinely ask subcommittee members when they are introducing a motion, and of course you can't introduce a motion without 48 hours' notice anyway, whether they have taken the additional action of speaking to their colleagues prior to bringing the item forward, not prior to moving it or prior to introducing it to the clerk, but prior to actually introducing it here.
If it becomes part of our culture to accept that these discussions ought to occur offline before these things get moved, I think that will save us a certain amount of administrative time as we negotiate in committee. A lot of that could be done offline. That would be good. It may also result in the total number of motions coming forward being reduced. I suppose that additionally—and I didn't think of this until just now—it might also result in our refining the motions as to how many meetings will be allowed for each topic. As I said, I think a considerable amount of time could be saved.
I think I'm accurately summarizing the five basic principles or practices that have evolved. I've suggested a couple of ways that I could administer them. I have no further comment in this regard, and I'm happy to accept commentary on this. Also, I'm happy to accept any other commentary that relates to committee business. If you don't have any, we'll adjourn.