Official Languages Committee on Feb. 5th, 2009

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I would like to discuss the amendment to the motion moved by Mrs. Glover.

As Ms. Guay was saying, if we insist on specifying that it must be someone from the whip's office, it is because the committees are guided by the whips. The way it worked caused a problem in the past which was then corrected in all of the committees. Members were allowed to be accompanied by a member of their own personnel. At the same time, the whip's office of certain political parties had enough staff to be available to send a representative to each committee, at any time. For example, as I am the whip, my assistant Theresa could attend any meeting of the committee, even if it was in camera, in order to provide the political party we represent with information.

Very often enough, those representatives are not even here, but they could be. We therefore drafted the motion for that reason, and the four political parties agreed on the issue. It is now the rule in all of the committees.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Changes made as to the members sitting on a committee come from the office of the whip. It is the whip who must sign a special document for any member to replace another. It is the person responsible for the office of the whip who brings it to the clerk. We need that. It could happen at any point in the day that I might be called to table a bill in the House and I would need to be replaced by one of my colleagues. We have to maintain that possibility.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mrs. Glover, you are the one who moved this amendment; do you wish to add something else?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I would like to withdraw my proposed amendment.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Very well. We can now deal with the original motion as it was moved by Mr. D'Amours, with the mention of a member of the personnel of the office of the whip.

Are there any comments on the motion as moved?

Mr. Nadeau.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Monique, do you wish to raise the issue?

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Yes. It is simply an issue concerning the French.

I move that the motion read as follows: “That, unless otherwise ordered, each Committee member be allowed to be accompanied by a member of their staff”, and not “by one staff person”, “including a member of the personnel of the office of the whip [...]”

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

That is “as well as”.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Yes, excuse me, it is “as well as”.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

It reads “as well as a member of the personnel of the office of the whip of each party.”

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

I am sorry, that is quite right: “as well as a member”. My goodness, my writing is so small I cannot even reread it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

It is a very tiny amendment, but we must consider it as one nevertheless.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

It is “as well as a member of the personnel of the office of the whip of each party.”

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

I see that the mover is distracted. Are there any comments on the amendment to the motion?

I will reread the amendment and I will invite you to pay closer attention. We would like it to read as follows: “that each member of the Committee be allowed to be accompanied by one member of their staff”, instead of “one staff member”.

If the members agree, I can call the question on the amendment.

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We may now vote on the motion as amended.

(Motion agreed to as amended)

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We will now proceed with motion number 8 which deals with in camera meetings transcripts:

That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be kept in the Committee Clerk's office for consultation by members of the Committee.

The motion is moved by Mrs. Glover. I will now call the question.

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We will now move on to the motion dealing with notice of motions. It was the one passed during the last session:

That 48 hours' notice be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the Committee unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration; and that the notice of motion be filed with the clerk of the Committee and distributed to members in both official languages.

I would like to inform the members of the Committee that I have had a discussion with the clerk regarding this motion. I would like someone to move the original motion. This is because when we are discussing a deadline of 48 hours before the next meeting, according to House procedures, that means that we have until 6:00 p.m. to table a notice of motion, whereas according to committee rules, we have until 4:00 p.m. The problem is not necessarily political in nature, but rather bureaucratic. For the clerk's staff, receiving a notice of motion at 6:00 p.m. creates complications.

I will ask the clerk to explain the point that she raised.

[The Clerk]

It is a logistical issue, more than anything else. If we receive the motion right at 6 o'clock and it is not translated, we have to find someone to translate it. It also depends on whether the motion is in order. If there are problems of that nature, the clerk may not be able to send it out immediately after receiving it. It would have to wait until the next day, so it couldn't be debated at the Thursday meeting. If the motion is received at 4 o'clock, it can be sent out that same evening, and debated at the Thursday meeting.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

This issue is generating a lot of discussion.

I am prepared to have someone move the following suggested routine motion for the opening of a session:

That 48 hours' notice be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the committee, unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration; and that the notice of motion be filed with the clerk of the committee and distributed to members in both official languages.

Ms. Guay moves the basic motion. We will now entertain comment on the motion.

We will hear from Mr. Nadeau, Mr. D'Amours and then Mrs. Boucher.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a question about the deadline. I'd like to know whether it's the same on other committees. Has the deadline been moved up to 4 o'clock for all committees?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

I'm going to check.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

It used to be 6 o'clock, and that worked.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Personally, I sit on the Standing Committee on National Defence, and yesterday, we passed the motion that is currently before us to the effect that parliamentary committees follow the parliamentary committees' schedule, not the House schedule. Keep in mind that House staff are here until 6 o'clock or 8 o'clock. They don't have the same schedule.

I can speak for the Standing Committee on National Defence, but do you have any other information?

[The Clerk]

The Standing Committee on Official Languages is the only committee where there is a specific deadline of 6 o'clock. Other committees have not done that. However, it's for the committee to decide.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

What are the deadlines for other committees?