Official Languages Committee on March 11th, 2008

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

I have Mr. Nadeau on my list, then Mr. Mulcair and Mr. Harvey. If you have anything to say, please let the clerk know.

Go ahead, Mr. Nadeau.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, I just want to make sure, as far as the steering committee's proposed schedule is concerned, that this will be addressed, and that you will invite Mr. Bernard Lord again to testify before the committee.

So, I'd like to move a motion, and I'd like you to report back on this on Thursday, in two days.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Lemieux wants to raise a point of order.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

The point of order is that Statistics Canada is the order of today; it's not committee business.

It's fine for Monsieur Nadeau to make a motion, as we all like to make motions, but his motion is not acceptable, because we need 48 hours' notice for a motion like his, as we are not discussing committee business today. It's fine that Monsieur Nadeau wants to make the motion. Give us 48 hours' notice, put it in both official languages, and then we can discuss your motion at the next meeting.

The order of today is Statistics Canada, not committee business. If you want to have committee business, it's already been made clear, monsieur le président, that committee business will be discussed on Thursday. That gives Monsieur Nadeau his 48 hours' notice to put forward a motion.

I'm getting a little fed up with the way this committee works, in making up its own rules as it goes along.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Lemieux.

I accept Mr. Lemieux's point of order.

Mr. Nadeau, what I was trying to say to you earlier, is that today, in the orders of the day, we had planned on hearing from a witness. And this won't happen. I understand your position. At the steering committee's meeting, all the committee members said they wanted to meet with Mr. Lord, as I explained right from the outset this morning. I was counting on committee members' good faith because, indeed, initially, Mr. Lord did not seem to indicate his availability. I'll remind you that I prefer to discuss certain matters in camera. And that's true of the agenda for future business. Furthermore, I said that I was going to check with my clerk and get back to you on Thursday. Our in camera meeting will give us an opportunity to clear things up and work out the 21 meetings ahead of us.

I'll entertain your motion, but I'd ask you for 48 hours' notice.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Chair...

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

There you have it. Is that clear, Mr. Nadeau? Are you following me?

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

No, it is not clear because a couple of minutes ago, we voted on a motion to uphold your proposal to hear immediately from the witness. But that motion was defeated. So I would like to suggest something new, and that is that the committee focus forthwith on a matter it has entrusted you with, and that is to have you represent the committee and invite Mr. Lord again to take part in our future business.

What Mr. Lemieux is saying doesn't make any sense, since the proposal was defeated earlier.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

It is an unusual procedural matter. So, while the witness has an opportunity to reflect on our committee business, I'll call on the clerk to give me some clarification on this matter.

I've been told, Mr. Nadeau, that there's no need for notice to determine what the committee is going to do. For the moment, the committee still has not decided what it is going to do. All it has decided, for now, is that it is not going to hear from the witness we have before us, Mr. Corbeil, whom I would like to thank for having accepted our invitation. If it's the will of committee members, we won't be hearing from the witness this morning, but we will not have him sit here twiddling his thumbs for no reason, either.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

On a point of order, if we're going to get into committee business, we should be moving in camera--it's that simple.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, it would really be very simple for us to put this to a vote, and get back to the business at hand.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Nadeau, there are a lot of people speaking at once, and the chair can't hear anything.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

My microphone was on. So, I thought it was okay to speak, so I'll repeat what I had to say now.

I move that the motion be put to a vote, which will give us some direction as to what to do then we can get back to the task at hand, which includes listening to Mr. Corbeil.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Usually, you entertain points of order.

So, I'll hand the floor over to Mr. Harvey.

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Chair, it's quite simple. When a motion is moved, the motion must deal with the subject being dealt with on that day. Otherwise, there is a requirement for 48 hours' notice for the motion to be in order. Now, the topic in the orders of the day is an analysis of the 2006 census. Therefore, a 48-hour notice is required for any other motion which does not deal with this subject. Now, I'm referring to the rules that we adopted in the first meeting of our official languages committee.

So, quite simply, the motion is out of order. Let's now turn to the orders of the day. You said that we'd come back to the official languages committee's proposed schedule on Thursday morning. And that's it.

Mr. Mulcair, you're interrupting my point of order.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

He has the microphone, Mr. Mulcair.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Chairman, I would like to raise a procedural question. I should have been able to speak before the two others. I demand that you give me the floor.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Mulcair, other members have asked to speak and have raised points of order.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

I also have a point of order.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

I have already agreed to hear from Mr. Harvey.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

But according to what you had announced, I was supposed to speak before him.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

I will consult with the clerk and then suggest how to move forward.

As for the issue raised by Mr. Harvey, the committee—

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

I was still on my point of order, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

I understand. I still want to consult with the clerk because I want to know where things stand. Okay?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

If you're going to consult with the clerk, turn off your microphone.