International Trade Committee on Oct. 14th, 2020

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

That works for me.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Okay, Ms. Bendayan, we'll go back to you.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

There is no need to repeat the first motion on my account, but I do have a suggestion for the second motion.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Is that on the subcommittee on agenda and procedure?

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Yes. We would add “recognized” in front of “Party” so that it would read partway through, “the Chair, one member from each recognized Party; and that the subcommittee work in the spirit of collaboration.”

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Does anyone have any objection to that?

No. Everyone is in favour of adding that one word.

(Amendment agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

Do you want to continue, Ms. Bendayan?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Yes, thank you.

With respect to "Meeting Without a Quorum", we have:

That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence printed when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four (4) members are present, including one member of the opposition and one member of the government, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after fifteen (15) minutes, regardless of members present.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

On that, Madam Chair, if I may, I understand that a number of committees in this session have specified that of the four members present, there should be two from government and two from opposition. I would propose that change.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Is there any discussion on that?

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

That's exactly what we did at the immigration committee this morning.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Everyone is in favour of the proposed amendment by Mr. Blaikie, then. It will be two members from the government and two from opposition to make up the quorum.

(Amendment agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

Ms. Bendayan, please continue.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

With respect to “Time for Opening Remarks and Questioning of Witnesses”, we have:

That witnesses be given ten (10) minutes for their opening statement; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six (6) minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows: Conservative Party, Liberal Party, Bloc Québécois, New Democratic Party; for the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows: Conservative Party, five (5) minutes, Liberal Party, five (5) minutes, Conservative Party, five (5) minutes, Liberal Party, five (5) minutes, Bloc Québécois, two and a half (2.5) minutes, New Democratic Party, two and a half (2.5) minutes.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Again, Madam Chair, I have a change to suggest for that motion.

I understand that the procedure and house affairs committee, and 14 committees in total so far this session, have adopted a second rotation that states, “Conservative Party, five (5) minutes, Liberal Party, five (5) minutes, Bloc Québécois, two and a half (2.5) minutes, New Democratic Party, two and a half (2.5) minutes, Conservative Party, five (5) minutes, and Liberal Party, five (5) minutes.”

I propose that we change the second rotation to reflect the changes that other committees have made.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Is there any discussion on the proposed amendment by Mr. Blaikie? Everyone's good?

(Amendment agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

Thank you, Mr. Blaikie.

We go back to Ms. Bendayan, then.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Here's the routine motion regarding document distribution:

That the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee only when the documents are available in both official languages and that witnesses be advised accordingly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Is there any discussion or comment? No.

Please continue, Madam Bendayan.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Here's the motion regarding working meals:

That the clerk of the committee be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Go ahead, Mr. Dhaliwal.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Madam Chair, because we are changing somewhat here and some members will be joining virtually, the working meeting lunches should only be for the members who will be present in person.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Okay.

Go ahead, Ms. Gray.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Madam Chair, we might want to have wording to have people confirm their physical presence for the meeting, just as a way of clarification. Then we know how many lunches to order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Excellent. Absolutely.

Is that okay? All right.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Do we need a certain period of time before the meeting by which members would give notice? Is it 24 hours or 48 hours or...?

[The Clerk]

The caterers need 48 hours' notice to cater individual lunches in the meeting room.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Would you like 72 hours' notice, then, just to make your life a little less complicated?