Evidence of meeting #1 for National Defence in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was documents.
3:35 p.m.
The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Andrew Chaplin
Ladies and gentlemen, I see a quorum.
I would like to present myself. I'm Andrew Chaplin. I am the clerk of the Standing Committee on National Defence. Here to assist me today is Chad Mariage, who will act as co-clerk, but normally you'll see him as clerk of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources.
The order of the day is the election of a chair. Pursuant to Standing Order 106(1), I'm prepared to accept motions in nomination for the post of chair.
Mr. Hawn.
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
3:35 p.m.
The Clerk
Thank you, Mr. Hawn.
Mr. Hawn has nominated Mr. Casson. Are there any other nominations?
3:35 p.m.
The Clerk
There being no other nominations, it is moved by Mr. Hawn that Rick Casson be elected chair of the committee. The committee has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
3:35 p.m.
The Clerk
Mr. Casson is elected chair of the committee.
3:35 p.m.
Bloc
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
And $10,000 more salary. You'll have to buy dinner for everybody.
3:35 p.m.
The Clerk
I am ready to accept motions for the election of the first vice-chair, who must be a member of the official opposition.
Following that, I'm prepared to receive nominations to the post of first vice-chair, who must be from the official opposition.
Mr. Khan.
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
Wajid Khan Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
I'd like to propose the name of Mr. John Cannis as first vice-chair, please.
3:35 p.m.
The Clerk
Are there any other nominations for the post of the first vice-chair?
Mr. Khan has moved that John Cannis be elected as first vice-chair of the committee. The committee has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
3:35 p.m.
The Clerk
Finally, I'm prepared to receive nominations for the post of second vice-chair.
The second vice-chair must be a member of an opposition party, other than the official opposition. Do I see any motions to that effect?
Are there nominations for the post of second vice-chair?
Monsieur Bouchard.
3:35 p.m.
The Clerk
Monsieur Bouchard has proposed Claude Bachand
be elected as the second vice-chair.
The committee has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
3:35 p.m.
The Clerk
I will now ask Mr. Casson to take the chair.
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rick Casson
Thank you very much, members of the committee. It is indeed an honour.
We have a former chair of the committee now as vice-chair--Mr. Cannis. I know if I stray he'll straighten me out, because he has the experience of the chair.
I think this committee has historically worked very well. It's as non-partisan, I guess, as any committee in the House of Commons. We try very much to work for the betterment of our armed forces and our men and women in uniform. Hopefully that tradition will continue.
In the reality of today's world, the issue of our defence system here in Canada, whether it's for issues at home.... I think we've seen natural disasters in other countries that have caused a great strain on resources. That's an issue that this committee will be thoughtful of. Of course, there's our involvement around the world, whether it's in peacekeeping or in Afghanistan, or whatever our troops are doing, we'll be very cognizant of all these things that are happening and keep that in mind as we go through our deliberations.
There has been a commitment by the previous government and by the present government to increase our regular and reserve forces. There has been a commitment to re-equip our Department of National Defence. As we go through this, I think there will be lots of issues to deal with, and lots of possible avenues for this committee to take when it's doing its deliberations. I look forward to that, and I think we're going to have a very interesting and vigorous session as we work through this next period of time.
Mr. Clerk, what do we do now?
3:40 p.m.
The Clerk
We usually do routine motions.
3:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rick Casson
We have a number of things that we need to deal with. First of all, go ahead and read them, and then I'll deal with them.
3:40 p.m.
The Clerk
The first motion is:
That the Committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the Chair, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.
3:40 p.m.
Conservative
3:40 p.m.
The Clerk
The next motion is:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be composed of the Chair, the two Vice-Chairs and a member of the other opposition party.
3:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rick Casson
It is moved by Mr. Bachand that this committee be struck as presented.
This committee does not meet on a regular basis, but it meets occasionally to deal with agenda items. I guess we'll be having a subcommittee meeting pretty quickly to deal with upcoming events for this committee.
(Motion agreed to)
3:40 p.m.
The Clerk
Excuse me, do you want to invite Mr. Koerner to move to the table as a researcher?
3:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rick Casson
For new members, this is Wolf Koerner, the researcher. I understand he has another engagement, so he may have to slip away before we're done. He might not, seeing how this meeting goes.
Go ahead.
