Justice Committee on Sept. 30th, 2010

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Miriam Burke]

Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum.

We can now proceed to the election of a chair. I am ready to receive motions to that effect.

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

I move that Ed Fast be nominated chair.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Mr. Lee 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.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Clerk]

Before inviting Mr. Fast to take the chair, if the committee wishes we'll now proceed to the election of vice-chairs.

Madam Jennings.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

I move Mr. Brian Murphy for vice-chair.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Ms. Jennings that Mr. Murphy be elected vice-chair.

Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Murphy duly elected vice-chair.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Clerk]

I am now prepared to receive motions for second vice-chair.

Monsieur Lemay.

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I nominate Mr. Serge Ménard.

[The Clerk]

Okay. Are there any further motions? No?

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.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Clerk]

I now invite Mr. Fast to take the chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Fast]

Thank you very much, everybody.

For the record, this is meeting 26, and today is Thursday, September 30, 2010.

I want to thank you for electing me to this position again. I just want to let you know that I don't take this for granted. It is an honour to chair this committee.

I think for the most part our committee has been a collaborative one. I think we've achieved a lot of good work. I am especially looking forward to moving ahead and completing our organized crime study.

I also want to welcome two new members to our committee, and of course Mr. Savage as well, who I think is here temporarily.

Ms. Jennings and Mr. Lee, I know that you're going to enjoy this committee.

I'll just leave you with one thought--namely, that here at this table we debate issues and ideas, we don't debate personalities. I'm going to do my very best to be even-handed and fair-minded, and to treat everyone respectfully. I certainly expect all of you to do the same as we move forward.

Now, there are no items on the public agenda. We do have the organized crime report, on which we still need to provide further instructions. I think you've had the summer to review that.

The other thing is future business. Given the fact that Mr. Murphy is not here today, it's certainly the wish of the Liberals at the committee that we defer consideration of future business and the organized crime report until our next meeting.

Yes, Mr. Lee.

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

I'm just curious, are there any bills currently standing, referred to the committee from the House?

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Fast]

Other bills?

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Any legislation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Fast]

Yes. Bill C-16 has been referred. There is also a private member's bill, Bill C-389. We are currently dealing with Bill C-4, the amendments to the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Those are the bills at our committee. Then there is the organized crime study.

Perhaps at our next meeting you could come prepared with some ideas with regard to our business moving forward.

The other thing is that I would invite the following motion:That the Committee cover the costs of hospitality incurred from the light lunch on September 28, 2010, at 12:00 p.m. with the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs of the National Assembly of the Republic of Kenya.You may recall that we had a meeting with them.

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I'll move the motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Fast]

We have a motion, and a seconder.

I'll call the question on the motion.

(Motion agreed to)

Seeing no other business, I'll adjourn the meeting.