Natural Resources Committee on Oct. 30th, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Mr. Genuis, we have—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I am not being allowed to speak at this committee on behalf of the hard-working people in my riding.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Mr. Genuis, I'll ask you to pause.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Chair, I am trying to get these important points on the record. You are not allowing members—especially Conservative members, especially members who represent energy workers—to speak, and it's unacceptable.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Mr. Genuis, I will ask you to pause.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I'd like to be able to speak on behalf of my constituents.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

I'll ask you to pause. We have a point of order. When I ask you to pause—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

[Inaudible—Editor]

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Mr. Genuis, this is not a debate.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

The NDP don't want to let Conservatives speak.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

I'll ask you to turn off your mic.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Will I be able to speak, Chair, without interruption?

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

We have a point of order. This committee has process and procedures—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

You never enforce or follow them.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Mr. Genuis, I will ask you to turn off your mic, respect committee members at this committee meeting and allow me to allow members to participate.

We have two points of order. I will go to Mr. Sorbara for the first point of order and Ms. McPherson for the second point of order.

Go ahead, Mr. Sorbara.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Chair, I'm always interested in listening intently to all the members when they speak and raise their points of order or points of debate. I would only ask that, out of respect for the interpreters, when we do speak, we don't scream into the mics.

Mr. Genuis, I hear your passion about the constituents you represent, but out of respect for the interpreters, I think we could speak in a more mild manner and in a lower tone, so that we're not screaming into our mics. You're quite, quite loud and quite passionate, and I get it, but I think out of respect for the interpreters and what they do for us and the job they perform, we could be a little more “subdued”, if I can use that term.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Thank you, Mr. Sorbara, for that reminder.

Colleagues, it is important that we refrain from having multiple individuals speaking into the mics at the same time. It makes it extremely difficult for our interpreters to do the great job they're doing on interpreting.

Also, when we are loud or when we end up—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

May I speak, Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Mr. Genuis, I have the floor. I will recognize you—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I have the floor.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

You will be recognized after we deal with this point of order. I'll ask you not to turn on your mic unless you're recognized. I'll ask you to turn off your mic until you're recognized.

Thank you.

Ms. McPherson, you have a point of order.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to reiterate what my colleague Mr. Sorbara said. We have to be very cautious and careful on behalf of our translators. They do such incredible work for us.

The point of order I want to raise is that Mr. Genuis implied by his comments that he was the only Albertan in this room.

Mr. Chair, I know that you're an Albertan. Certainly I'm an Albertan. I represent the oil workers in my province as well. In fact, my husband works at Enbridge. He's part of the energy industry, as are in fact many members of my family. My father was a truck driver for a long time—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Chair, this is not a point of order.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

—and has been in the oil industry. My brother works in the oil industry.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, if this member wants to speak, she can add herself to the list.