Natural Resources Committee on Oct. 19th, 2006

[Roy Cullen, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

No, that's not exactly what I said, Mr. Chair. What I said was that there may not be a big appetite to keep debating this motion tonight. I'm not going to speak for all the members here, but my understanding is there's not a big appetite to do that tonight. There might be support on this side to say if we can't resolve this tonight, then we would debate it on Tuesday until we exhaust the debate, and then we would vote on it.

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

We have a point of order, Mr. Chair. It's quite serious. Furthermore, I'm not sure that we can immediately agree. If you agree to postpone the debate until Tuesday, I would concur in that wise decision, given the time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Let me say, then, because you're interrupting the debate, I will take that as a point of order and Mr. Cullen's response as a response to that point of order.

Can I then ask you to clarify what it is you're asking of the committee?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

I am asking to report the debate on these two motions on Tuesday.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

So you wish to table the motion that is currently before the committee until the committee meeting resumes at 3:30 on Tuesday? Is that my understanding?

We'll hear if that's what Mr. Paradis is saying, but the motion to table takes precedence. We've now heard a motion to the table--

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Chair, I just want to make quite sure, because we are ready to debate the motion tonight, but I don't see my colleagues.... They have points to raise, and that might take some time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Let's consider the point of order, then, rather than tabling the motion.

Mr. Cullen.

[Roy Cullen, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

I was just going to say that I'm happy to debate this tonight until we've exhausted the debate, but I understood from my colleagues in the Bloc and NDP that there are some time constraints tonight, so that might not work for tonight. The other option would be to table a motion that says we deal with both motions on Tuesday and we debate them until we exhaust the debate on Tuesday, and then vote on them on Tuesday.

I don't know if that's representative of the views of the committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Sorry, go ahead, Madame.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

I'm not sure I understood the interpretation, because there was a lot of whispering around the table.

Mr. Cullen, could you repeat what you just said? You don't want the debate on the motion to continue this evening?

[An hon. member]

That's correct.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

That's what you just said? I have no plans.

[An hon. member]

But I do.

[Roy Cullen, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Chair, I could continue the debate this evening, until we finish with this motion. However, I get the impression that other colleagues on this committee have other engagements this evening.

An alternative solution would perhaps be for us to continue the debate next week, on Tuesday.

[Christian Ouellet, Bloc, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Mr. Chair, if the debate continues this evening, I can have myself replaced and leave.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

I'm sure we can all be replaced.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

And to our colleague from the NDP, are you fine with that?

[Catherine Bell, NDP, Vancouver Island North, BC]

I don't think I can be replaced, but I do have other appointments. I'm not able to stay this evening.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Could you find a replacement?

[Catherine Bell, NDP, Vancouver Island North, BC]

I'm not sure. Mr. Bevington had to go home. He had an illness in the family. I could try.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Mr. Trost.

[Bradley Trost, Conservative, Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK]

If I may enter the debate here, out of common courtesy, all parties should be recognized in debate. If the NDP is going to have a problem.... Let's face it, as members, we all have lives. It's getting to be the top of the hour, and we'll want to do things.

We can stay here all night and work this out. Ultimately, though, whether we do it now and make it all inconvenient for ourselves, or wait until next Tuesday and do things in a more proper order and not wear ourselves out, that's a situation in which I think common sense should dictate a little bit more. Ultimately, if all the opposition parties do want this motion to go through, it will go through on Tuesday rather than today.

And if I may give some advice to the opposition parties, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are better media days than are Fridays. If you guys want this to get in the press, maybe you should let us all go home and have a little bit of a rest, and we can come back to it next Tuesday. We all know what we're going to get ourselves into here, so let's just have some respect.

We're going to go at it Tuesday again. Unless there's some surprise from the opposition, the government will lose the vote on Tuesday and things will roll on. I think everyone knows we're all prepared for that.

It is 5:30, and I don't want to spend another couple of hours here talking in circles. I can do that. I'm starting to do that right now, and I can keep going for a whole lot longer, but I think that would be practical.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

I think you've made the point.

Mr. Cullen.

[Roy Cullen, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

My only hesitation about punting it to Tuesday is that we have some witnesses lined up. I'm therefore prepared to stay here tonight for as long as it takes, if that's the will of the committee.