Evidence of meeting #1 for Official Languages in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
No, no, no, I said “un membre du parti ministériel”, a member of the government party.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
Yes, but when the chair read the motion, he said “government member”. That would have to be another parliamentary secretary, Mr. Chair. Members of the governing party are not necessarily members of the government.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
What did you say again? Did you say “government party” or did you say “Conservative Party”?
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
I said “a member of the government party”, because I will have another motion later on.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
We have a motion on the floor.
Thank you, Mr. Bélanger, for clarifying the wording.
Thank you, Mr. Galipeau, for clarifying the wording.
Monsieur Godin.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
I think we should add “and another member of the official opposition”, because the majority of opposition members are from the official opposition; it's not equal.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
So do you want to add another government member too? That would end up being the entire committee.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I support Mr. Godin's subamendment, because it makes sense. First, Mr. Galipeau's proposal under-represents the official opposition. It makes up a third of Parliament and should make up a third of the executive committee. Then, the tradition at that committee has always been to operate by consensus. It is not a partisan committee and we know that all its members work together. An expanded subcommittee on agenda and procedure would allow questions about the agenda and about the witnesses to be resolved at the subcommittee. It makes a lot of sense to have appropriate representation so that committee work will be more efficient when the agenda is presented here. I think that the subamendment is wise and good.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
Mr. Chair, I want to make sure I understand. Mr. Godin is proposing to add a member of the official opposition to the subcommittee. So there would be two members of the official opposition and myself. That would be equal, wouldn't it?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
No, it won't be equal, in the sense that the opposition will control the subcommittee because the chair, being myself, in the subcommittee normally doesn't vote. I would only vote in the event of a tie.
As a result, during the normal course of business, you'd have three opposition members, two of whom are official opposition and one is a member of the Liberal Party, along with two members of the government, one of whom is the parliamentary secretary and the other is one of the other five Conservative members here. So the opposition would control the subcommittee.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
I understand what Mr. Godin is trying to achieve, but I don't think that this is the right way to go about it. So I will not be supporting Mr. Godin's motion. The government has a majority, both in the House and on the committee. We may not like it, but it is the reality we have to live with. I do not think that the motion should be accepted.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
I would also like to say that Mr. Galipeau's motion is fair. If things are tied, I get to break it.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
Okay.
Mr. Galipeau, you have the floor. Then it will be Mr. Godin's turn.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
Mr. Chair, I have a lot of respect for Mr. Godin and I have to say that this makes me respect him even more. I was going to ask if we had unanimous consent so that he could withdraw his motion, but he did it himself. There is nothing more for me to say.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
Do we have unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment to the main motion?