Evidence of meeting #18 for Subcommittee on Neurological Disease in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was report.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
February 16th, 2011 / 1:15 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Is there any other process that we can bring forward? I don't know.
Sonya Norris Committee Researcher
Can I just ask a question?
An interim report often doesn't contain recommendations. Are you looking at an interim report with recommendations? That will change how much time you need to consider it.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tim Uppal
Does an interim report get tabled in Parliament? That is the goal here.
Conservative
Committee Researcher
The thing is that it needs to be written and translated. It takes about a week for it to be translated and a week to write.
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
We're gone next week, so March 2 is not an option.
Basically, we have no choice. March 9 is the earliest we can go with, and that's the date to shoot for.
Conservative
Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON
We'll just hope that any budget vote is several days after March 22 or March 28, whenever it is. They haven't actually come out with a date; it's only speculation anyway.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tim Uppal
At this point, since we have some agreement that March 9 would be the time for the draft report, we need to decide what time we would meet.
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
I'm not familiar with all of the procedures and I am just trying to get some sense of whether, if we did an interim report and an election took place, there is a way that we could resuscitate that interim report.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tim Uppal
If there is an election and, after the election, the subcommittee is created again, the subcommittee could vote to have all of that testimony brought back.
Conservative
Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON
This is just a question. We talked about March 9 as the meeting; that's when we looked at the Wednesday. We can't do it Wednesday at 1:00, or we can't do it Wednesday evening, because there are always votes Wednesday evening. Just for that week, would our schedules allow us to do the meeting on Tuesday, March 8? Is everyone's Tuesday completely booked up?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tim Uppal
We would take a risk doing it in the evening, if there are votes. There generally are votes on Wednesdays.
Bloc
Luc Malo Bloc Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC
Be that as it may, even if we do manage to discuss the report on the 9th, and even if we sit until 11 p.m. and ultimately adopt it, I'm not certain that the translators and the analysts can complete their work in time for us to table it to the committee the next day. I doubt if that's possible.
The chair has pointed out that the subcommittee can be reappointed after an election and that the evidence presented can be brought back. Why not continue our study, see it through to the end and table the report during the next Parliament?
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
I guess I'm leery of doing that. We don't know who will come back, who will be on health, or whether they will want a subcommittee. I hate to lose this information. I'm certainly willing. I like Patrick's idea to work late. I'm certainly willing to do that if people find that their schedules will let them work late on March 8 or March 9. I really feel we have to get something concrete, through.
Conservative
Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON
Is there any way to a meeting on the evening of the 8th or 9th?
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Again, I'm trying to understand the gist of this discussion. Are you saying that if the report is not tabled, the evidence presented can be brought back? If we table an interim report to the health committee, will it go any further than that?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tim Uppal
No. A report would be a report, so if it's the report that gets tabled in Parliament, that will be the report. You won't be able to table an interim report.
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
No, but the issue is whether an interim report drafted by the subcommittee and tabled to the health committee must be tabled in the House. Will there be enough time for the committee to table the report to the House?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tim Uppal
That is then up to the health committee to take out time to review it and agree to report it to the House, so you have two committees to deal with.