Evidence of meeting #1 for Justice and Human Rights in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:05 a.m.
The Clerk of the Committee Ms. Miriam Burke
Honourable members, good morning.
I see a quorum.
We can now proceed to the election of the chair.
I am ready to receive motions to that effect. Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the chair must be a member of the government party.
Are there motions?
Mr. Rathgeber.
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
Brent Rathgeber Conservative Edmonton—St. Albert, AB
I'd like to nominate Mr. Ed Fast for the position of chair.
11:05 a.m.
The Clerk
It has been moved by Mr. Rathgeber that Mr. Fast be elected as chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
I declare the motion carried and Mr. Fast duly elected chair of the committee.
11:05 a.m.
Some hon. members
Hear, hear!
11:05 a.m.
The Clerk
I am now prepared to receive motions for first vice-chair.
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the first vice-chair must be a member of the official opposition.
11:05 a.m.
The Clerk
It has been moved by Madam Mendes that Mr. Murphy be elected as first vice-chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
I declare the motion carried and Mr. Murphy duly elected first vice-chair of the committee.
11:05 a.m.
Some hon. members
Hear, hear!
11:05 a.m.
The Clerk
I am now prepared to receive motions for second vice-chair. Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the second vice-chair must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition.
Monsieur Lemay.
11:05 a.m.
The Clerk
Moved by Mr. Lemay that Mr. Ménard be elected second vice-chair of the committee.
Are there any other motions?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
I declare the motion carried and Mr. Ménard duly elected second vice-chair of the committee.
I now invite Mr. Fast to take the chair.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Ed Fast
Thank you, Madam Clerk, for that.
Thank you to all of you for your ongoing confidence in my chairing of this committee. Also, congratulations to the two vice-chairs who were elected.
As I have said before, I feel this committee has worked very well, as collaboratively as possible, given the minority government circumstances. I hope that the decorum and spirit of collaboration will continue as we move forward, even when we disagree on some of the bills and studies that we undertake.
We welcome Ms. Mendes and Mr. Dechert to our committee. I think you will find it a very enjoyable experience, as it has been for me.
Madam Clerk, I understand there are a number of routine motions that would normally be adopted, but I believe that on Wednesday, March 3, the House of Commons adopted the following order, which I quote:
That, for all standing committees, routine motions in effect at the time of prorogation of the previous session be deemed to have been adopted in the current session, provided that committees be empowered to alter or rescind such motions as they deem appropriate.
Accordingly, the routine motions that were in effect at the time of prorogation are reinstated, and the clerk will reflect the House order in the minutes of this meeting. The committee can, if it chooses, amend any of these motions.
Finally, for information purposes, the clerk has distributed a copy of the motions to all committee members.
What is your wish? Are you satisfied with the routine motions as we had them in the previous session?
It appears we have agreement on that.
I want to raise a couple of other items as well. You may recall that in the previous session we were just on the verge of dealing with Scott Andrews' private member's bill, which was Bill C-464. Given the fact that we don't yet have any government legislation before us, I have taken the liberty of having the clerk contact Mr. Andrews, and he is available on March 16 to introduce his bill here at committee. Is that acceptable?
11:10 a.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Ed Fast
All right.
The second item is this. We spent a lot of time on our organized crime study, and I think it would be a shame if we didn't move that evidence forward and continue on that one, as and when we have time at this committee. Is that something you want to pursue?
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
Brian Murphy Liberal Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB
May I ask, as a point of clarification, what you mean by move it forward and consider it? Do you mean that there would be a draft already started, or do you think there'll be further evidence required? Or what do you mean exactly?
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Ed Fast
I believe we still had a number of cities to visit. I think it would be a mistake not to visit those cities. Toronto, Winnipeg, and Edmonton, I believe, were on our schedule.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Ed Fast
Because we've spent so much time on this, we should complete the study. If it is the wish of the committee to do so, all we need is a motion.
We have a draft motion for that. The motion would read as follows:
That the evidence heard and documentation received by this Committee in relation to its study on organized crime during the 2nd Session of the 40th Parliament, be taken into consideration by the Committee in this session.
When I'm referring to the organized crime study, I'm not referring to the one that deals with declaring criminal organizations; it's the other one.
11:10 a.m.
Bloc
Serge Ménard Bloc Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
I do not believe that I am the only member here who did not participate in several of the sessions you held. So I would like to have a copy of the material that was produced, electronically if possible. I prefer having it on my computer because I can even refer to it when I am at my cottage, for example. It is also a way of saving paper.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
11:10 a.m.
The Clerk
Yes.
