National Defence Committee on Feb. 28th, 2011

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

We now continue with the 50th meeting of the Standing Committee on National Defence.

Before starting, I want to inform the members that I will table tomorrow in front of the House our report, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Wednesday, February 16, 2011, that the committee recommends

That the Committee condemn the stoning of young women and men in Afghanistan and call on the government to take the necessary action to put an end to these stonings as as soon as possible and that it be reported to the House at the earliest opportunity.

That will be tabled tomorrow at 10 o'clock.

I'll also inform the members that you have until tomorrow, Tuesday, at noon, to give your amendments for Bill C-41 to the clerk, because we will start to work on this bill this Wednesday.

Do we have agreement on that? Jack?

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

No, no. Where did that deadline come from? We're hearing witnesses on Wednesday, so how can we do that? How can we hear from witnesses on Wednesday and have amendments in by tomorrow?

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Yes, we have a witness for sure, but the second part of our meeting will be clause-by-clause.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Yes, but if we have to have amendments in by tomorrow and we're going to hear from witnesses on Wednesday.... We just heard from witnesses this afternoon suggesting changes and things we have to think about. I don't think it's reasonable to expect amendments to be available tomorrow at 12 o'clock.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Fine.

Go ahead, Mr. Hawn.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

It's not that we're not going to provide any, but I don't think it should be an absolute deadline.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Thanks, Jack.

Mr. Hawn.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Well, Mr. Chair, the only witness we're having on Wednesday is the vice-chief, and at the risk of being a little cynical, you're probably not going to take much advice from him anyway. It's just a guess.

We are starting clause-by-clause, so it seems to me if you're going to start clause-by-clause, then you need to be prepared to have whatever you want changed in there, because we're starting at the top, like any other clause-by-clause.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

But also all the members have the privilege and the opportunity to table amendments on the floor when we are in session, but it will be preferable to receive them before 12.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

I have no problem with that, Chair.

I mean, we have a number of amendments that have gone through the process, and they're translated into both official languages, etc., and we will be happy to table the ones that we have tomorrow. As long as we can present amendments on the floor as we go through, then that's perfectly reasonable.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Okay. We have a consensus. We're going to do that.

We'll go ahead with the motion presented by Mr. Wilfert, if we can have a discussion on that.

Can you read your motion, Bryon?

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

My motion is that the committee call the Minister of National Defence to appear before this committee in advance of the Minister of Finance’s tabling of the 2011 budget, in order to brief committee members on the supplementary estimates (C), 2010-2011, and to answer questions pertaining to a fleet of Mi-17 helicopters the Department of National Defence secretly leased and has operated in Kandahar province, as referenced in the motion this committee passed on November 25, 2010.

I had no problem with having that in camera, the second part. On the first part, the issue on supplementary estimates, we should obviously have the minister before us, and I presume that the minister will make himself available before then.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

At the risk of not putting too fine a point on it, I don't think the Minister of National Defence knows when the budget is being tabled. I certainly don't. There are probably only a couple of people who do. I'm not disagreeing with having him come and so on.

I think it might be more appropriate, rather than in relation to the budget, which is something that has not been announced, that we talk about before the expiry of the current supply period.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, but the supplementary estimates are out, so I think it's important that we have a....

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

I don't disagree. We've already passed this motion anyway, have we not? So it's just a discussion about implementing it.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Yes, but I just want to make sure that the minister is available at the first available opportunity.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Yes. If we're doing clause-by-clause...

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

On Wednesday to next Monday, that would leave next Wednesday.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

That's the ninth. That would be a possibility. I have no idea what his schedule is on the ninth. The next possible day after that obviously would be the 21st, after the break week. I can't speak at the moment to his personal availability on either of those days. I don't know when the budget is coming, but obviously we all know it's coming some time relatively soon. I'm just saying if we tie it to the budget, that might make it awkward.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

I think it's important to have a heads-up that we try to get him in before. Those are two dates that I would suggest, if feasible. I would like to have a discussion.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

We'll go back and check his availability. The part in camera, absolutely. If we're going to discuss anything other than the fact that the Mi-17s are there, then that discussion needs to be in camera.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Go ahead, Mr. Bachand.

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

My question concerns the first part of the motion. As far as I know, the minister is required to appear before the committee in conjunction with our study of the supplementary estimates. Do we really need a motion to compel him to appear?

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

I'll let the clerk take that question.

[Julie Lalonde-Prudhomme, Procedural Clerk]

There is no obligation as such. The minister is free to choose whether or not to appear before the committee. It all depends on his availability and willingness to do so.