Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 17th, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

As long as everybody's good with the extra one minute, we can vote on this now.

(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

Item number five is on document distribution:

That only the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to distribute documents to the members of the Committee and only when the documents are available in both official languages; and that witnesses be advised accordingly.

Mr. Lemieux is moving that motion.

(Motion agreed to)

The next item is a very important one, on working meals. We might want to talk about this one:

That the Clerk of the Committee, in consultation with the Chair, be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the Committee.

It's moved by Mr. Lemieux.

Mr. McLeod, do you have a question?

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Yes, does that include subcommittees?

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Excellent question. I guess we can decide that. As the motion reads, it does not include subcommittees.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Whose motion is it? The PROC's motion does include it. The one you just read does not include it.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

This question has never been asked before. It's not a problem. If the subcommittee meets and members are hungry, we can make arrangements.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Can we add that to the motion, then?

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Working meals for the committee and the subcommittee.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

If I'm going to sit on a subcommittee, I want to eat.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Okay.

Is there any other discussion on the main motion or the amendment? No? All in favour of the motion as amended?

(Motion as amended agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

The next item is on travel, accommodation and living expenses of witnesses:

That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses, not exceeding two (2) representatives per organization, in accordance with the Financial Management and Policy Guide for Committees; and that, in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.

Mr. Serré is moving that.

(Motion agreed to)

Next is on staff at in camera meetings:

That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be permitted to have one (1) staff member in attendance at any in camera meeting; and that one (1) staff member from each party also be permitted to attend any in camera meeting.

Ms. Bergen is the mover for that motion.

(Motion agreed to)

Moving right along to the next item, In camera meetings transcripts, which reads:

That one (1) copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be kept in the Committee Clerk's office for consultation by members of the Committee.

Mr. Tan is moving the motion.

(Motion agreed to)

The last motion, appropriately enough, is on notice of motions:

That forty-eight (48) hours' notice be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the Committee, unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration; that the notice of motion be filed with the Clerk of the Committee and distributed to members in both official languages; and that completed motions received before the close of business, which is understood to be 4:00 p.m., be distributed the same day.

Mr. Cannings is moving that motion.

(Motion agreed to)

There are no more procedural motions that I'm aware of.

Is there any other business which people would like to discuss today?

Ms. Bergen.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Thank you.

I don't know if you want to have a minute of discussion, because obviously this isn't at all an official motion, but I wanted to ask about this so that we could get a good start on the committee and have some good discussion. I'm sure the government has things that they want to discuss and study, and there are probably some things that we would want to too, where we have commonalities.

I wondered if it would be good to bring the minister in right away so that we could see in what direction the government would like to go. We could talk about some of the pressing issues that are happening right now. Again, this is not a formal motion. As opposed to an actual motion, I just wanted to throw it out there and see if we could just invite him to come when he has time, obviously. If he could come even for just an hour, for the first hour while we get started, we could go from there to start to build our agenda. I just thought I'd ask.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Mr. Harvey.

[TJ Harvey, Liberal, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

While we were here I scribbled out an impromptu motion to that effect, I guess, but I don't know if it needs to be a formal motion or just a request at this point. If it does need to be a motion, then I have a motion that could be amended to fit that. I'm just asking.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

If you want to present a motion, we'd absolutely be willing to waive that 48-hour clause, if the NDP member would be all right with that. Then we could actually formalize it.

[TJ Harvey, Liberal, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

The reason I wrote it is that, seeing as how we do not have a subcommittee on procedure in place yet—we have a partial subcommittee in place, of course, but not one fully in place—I thought it would give us an opportunity to get a head start. It's really the point from where we should start our work anyway.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Even though we have a subcommittee, it doesn't preclude any of us from bringing forward motions or suggesting business as well.

[TJ Harvey, Liberal, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Right. Absolutely not.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Do we need to call for a motion? Can we not just leave it that we're going to invite the minister to attend at his earliest convenience?

[TJ Harvey, Liberal, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

I'll just read what I have and you guys can determine whether or not you really need to do it. The motion, as written, is fairly loose. The motion would read: “That we, as a committee, ask the Minister of Natural Resources to present himself to committee at his first opportunity to discuss his mandate letter and additionally, to make himself available to appear before committee when requested in the future.”

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Mr. Serré.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Chair, do we need to have a motion? We have everything in place right now. Obviously, the invitation will be sent to the minister. The scheduling and the waiving of the 48 hours, whether that comes into play.... I don't think it's necessary to have it. The parliamentary secretary will put the invitation in, and I'm sure the minister will try to accommodate us, depending upon the various witnesses we have or the topics of the day. I don't think we need a motion. An invitation to the minister would be more than welcomed by him, I'm sure.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Mr. Lemieux, do you have a comment?

[Denis Lemieux, Liberal, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Do you think it has to be the minister, or could it be one of his officials?

That may make it possible for the committee to schedule a meeting sooner. We could get down to committee business more quickly and efficiently.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Mr. McLeod, and then Ms. Bergen.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Mr. Chair, I was hoping we would take a bit of time to build some type of foundation for this committee's responsibilities. There are a number of sectors that I'd be keen on becoming more familiar with. I am hesitant to bring in the minister without knowing more about the different sectors, what the issues are, some of the history. I think we're getting a bit excited about passing a motion to get the minister in here and run on the minister's agenda. I'd like to have the committee get on a better footing—at least I would like to be on a better footing. I think there is a need to have the minister come before us, but to make that the first thing on the agenda, I don't know if that's the way to go.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Ms. Bergen and then Mr. Harvey.