Natural Resources Committee on Dec. 15th, 2021

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Hilary Jane Powell]

Hello, everyone.

Honourable members of the committee, I see we now have quorum. My name is Hilary Powell. I'm the clerk of the committee.

I must inform members that the clerk of the committee can only receive motions for the election of the chair. The clerk cannot receive other types of motions, entertain points of order or participate in debate.

We can now proceed to the election of the chair.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the chair must be a member of the government party.

I am now ready to receive motions for the chair.

Mr. Maloney, I see you have your hand up.

I apologize for the technical delay. I see Ms. Rempel Garner has her hand up.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I would like to nominate MP Aldag, please, Clerk.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Ms. Rempel Garner that Mr. Aldag be elected as chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions?

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Madam Clerk, did you not hear me earlier?

[The Clerk]

I could not hear you.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Can you hear me now?

[The Clerk]

Yes, I can. Do you have a—

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

My apologies, I had nominated Mr. Aldag as well.

[The Clerk]

Okay. Thank you for confirming that.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

I just thought everybody was thinking hard about it.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Ms. Rempel Garner that Mr. Aldag be elected as chair of the committee.

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

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Aldag duly elected as chair of the committee.

Mr. Aldag, you're welcome to come and take a seat at the chair's table. Thank you.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

I have a point of order.

[The Clerk]

I'm afraid that, as clerk, I'm unable to take points of order right now.

I will pass it over to the chair.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

I was just asking for the chair's recognition.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

I recognize Mr. Angus on a point of order.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Thank you.

I know we have a lot of business to do. I just wanted to congratulate you on behalf of the New Democratic Party and say we will certainly be working, looking forward. I'm hoping we'll be able to get to business this afternoon, as we have much to do. I will be bringing forward a motion to look into at that time.

Thank you so much for being our chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Excellent. Thanks, everybody, for your support.

We're going to go back to the clerk for the nomination of vice-chairs, and then we'll go into some regular business.

[The Clerk]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Pursuant to Standing Order to 106(2), the first vice-chair must be a member of the official opposition.

I'm now prepared to receive motions for the first vice-chair.

Mr. Angus.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

I nominate Ms. Rempel Garner.

[The Clerk]

Are there any further motions?

It has been moved by Mr. Angus that Ms. Rempel Garner be elected as first vice-chair of the committee.

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

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Ms. Rempel Garner duly elected as first vice-chair of the committee.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the second vice-chair must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition.

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

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

I nominate Mr. Simard.

[The Clerk]

Mr. Melillo, thank you.

Are there any further motions?

Mr. Melillo moved that Mr. Simard be elected as second vice-chair of the committee.

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

(Motion agreed to)

[The Clerk]

I declare the motion carried, and Mr. Simard duly elected second vice-chair of the committee.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Congratulations to our vice-chairs. I look forward to working with all of the members on this committee in the time we will have ahead.

If you can indulge me for a few minutes, there are some points we need to get through as we go through the routine business of the committee this afternoon.

First of all, welcome to meeting number one of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources. Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the House order of November 25, 2021. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

Regarding the speaking list, the committee clerk and I will do the best we can to maintain a consolidated order of speaking for all members, whether participating virtually or in person.

I'd like to take this opportunity to remind all participants in this meeting that screenshots, or taking photos of your screen, is not permitted. Proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website.

Given the ongoing pandemic situation, and in light of the recommendations from public health authorities, as well as the directive of the Board of Internal Economy on October 19, 2021, to remain healthy and safe, the following is recommended for all those attending the meeting in person. Anyone with symptoms should participate by Zoom and not attend the meeting in person. Everyone must maintain a two-metre physical distance whether seated or standing. Everyone must wear a non-medical mask when circulating in the room. It is recommended in the strongest possible terms that members wear their masks at all times, including when seated. Non-medical masks, which provide better clarity over cloth masks, are available in the room. Everyone present must maintain proper hand hygiene by using the hand sanitizer at the room entrance.

Committee rooms are cleaned before and after each meeting. To maintain this, everyone is encouraged to clean surfaces, such as the desk, chair and microphone, with the provided disinfectant wipes when vacating or taking a seat. As the chair, I will be enforcing these measures for the duration of the meeting. I thank members in advance for their co-operation.

As the next order of business, I suggest the committee proceed to the consideration of routine motions. In preparation for this, the committee clerk has circulated a list of routine motions that the committee adopted in the last parliamentary session. The committee clerk can also answer any questions you may have about the routine motions.

I recognize Mr. Maloney.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Let me add my congratulations to you for taking on this position. It's one I've held in the past, so I'm very much looking forward to working with you and continuing the good work of this committee.

As you pointed out, we have a number of routine motions. I'm going to propose that rather than reading them all out individually, we move to adopt them collectively. If that's not acceptable, then I will proceed to do it one by one.