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.
Bloc
Luc Malo Bloc Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC
In that case, Mr. Chair, the solution would be for the subcommittee to draft a report right away. If my colleagues do not want the work that has been done to be for nought, then the first thing to do is draft a report and send it off to the main committee. It will then be up to the main committee to table it. The fact is that we report to the main committee, not to the House. We're required to follow a series of procedures and steps.
If Mr. Brown's and Mr. Duncan's main objective is to have the committee table the report, then that is what we need to focus on during our upcoming meetings, especially since Mr. Duncan will be unavailable during the first two weeks of March. The subcommittee will therefore not be meeting then. So, we do not have a great deal of time left. That means that on March 9, subcommittee members can begin drafting the report, which could then be presented to the main committee on March 23. Rumour has it that the budget will be tabled on March 22. So then, if tabling a report is truly what you want to do, then we need to act on March 9.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tim Uppal
Maybe we can allow the analysts to discuss a little of the timeline—what they would need, and things like that.
Committee Researcher
Having reviewed the evidence, I see that we actually have a fair amount of testimony on caregiver support, so I'm comfortable with that. In an ideal world, if we could just have the one meeting covering the research as a whole—maybe that could be on March 9—then after the break week, you'd have a draft report.
Conservative
Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON
I think the problem is that if we consider it after the break week in March and there is a budget, as some have speculated, it means that after break week it's too late. I like Luc's idea of doing an interim report, because if we do a final report, that rather shuts us down. If we do an interim report that is simply a summary of everything we've heard, we can then take the time afterward, if there's no election, to come out with some strong recommendations, but we can do the summary for what we've learned so far on March 9.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
I agree; we need a report, and I think we have to put it through the health committee. I think we do want those extra hearings.
Could we do an addendum to that report? Why don't we try to issue a full report that we can get through the health committee so that it's on record, and then, if we get the opportunity to have those extra hearings, do an addendum? What do you think?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tim Uppal
Let me just interject something. The discussion right now with the analysts is that a summary of evidence is not a report and would not be tabled in Parliament, so if you want something tabled in Parliament, that should be the goal.
Bloc
Luc Malo Bloc Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC
That is precisely what I was about to say, Mr. Chair. A report is a report, not something halfway.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tim Uppal
I'll allow the analysts to discuss the timelines they need to make this happen.
Committee Researcher
I think the earliest you could get a report in both languages would be March 9.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Can we have it a few days before that, so that we can discuss it?
Committee Researcher
Yes, I mean discussing it on March 9; you would get it before then. It just requires a week to write and a week to translate.
Conservative
Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON
Maybe we can do meetings in the evening and go as long as it takes to go over it, because one hour on March 9 to do the report is not going to be adequate.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tim Uppal
The other step, colleagues, is also to have time on the health committee itself to review it and to agree to report. There are two steps here.
Conservative
Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON
Here is what I think we should do. At health committee we bring a motion and ask them, for March 9 or March 11—whatever the appropriate day is—to review it.
What day of the week is March 9?
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Why don't I take a motion into the health committee asking them whether we could have time to take a look at this?
February 16th, 2011 / 1:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tim Uppal
The meeting will be on March 8 or 10. The minister is coming on March 10, so it won't happen that day.
Bloc
Luc Malo Bloc Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC
I'm sure we won't have time to finish studying on the report on March 9. If there's only one hour to discuss it....
Conservative
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
We just can't let our witnesses down; we can't.
I like Patrick's idea of working late on March 9. On March 10 we had one hour for the minister, and there was another hour that was....
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tim Uppal
No, it's going to be officials and the minister. That's the usual practice.