Evidence of meeting #1 for Official Languages in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Usually, as stated in the motion, the subcommittee consists of the chair, the vice-chairs and one other member. I don't know whether this answers your question, Mr. Dalton.
Can we reread the motion?
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Dalton, since you're new to the committee, I want to let you know that, in recent years, the subcommittee has consisted of the chair, the first vice-chair, the second vice-chair and someone from another party. Last year, the subcommittee consisted of the Parliamentary Secretary, meaning me; the chair; the first vice-chair; the second vice-chair; and a member of the third opposition party. This year is special because we have a third opposition party. We can easily accept that the NDP will also be there as the third opposition party.
In short, the purpose of the subcommittee is to improve efficiency when it comes to prioritizing motions, for example. That's what we were doing at our meetings. It's a way to save time. It gives the parties the opportunity to address issues outside the committee discussions.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Marc Dalton Conservative Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Thank you. The subcommittee should consist of three opposition members and two government members. Is that right?
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
Mr. Dalton, I'll reread the motion regarding the subcommittee.
Should I read it in English? No? Okay.
The motion is as follows:
That the subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five members; the Chair, one Member from each party; and that the subcommittee work in the spirit of collaboration.
4:15 p.m.
The Clerk
Mr. Chair, I invite you to put the motion to a vote.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Yes, gladly. Let's get started, Madam Clerk.
Perhaps we could proceed the same way?
4:15 p.m.
The Clerk
We can proceed by consensus or by recorded division.
4:15 p.m.
The Clerk
Is there consensus regarding the motion moved by Mrs. Lalonde?
(Motion agreed to)
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
I'll now move the motion concerning meetings without a quorum:
That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence printed when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including a member of the opposition and one member of the government, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after fifteen minutes, regardless of members present.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
4:15 p.m.
The Clerk
Is there consensus regarding this motion?
(Motion agreed to)
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
I now move the motion regarding the time for opening remarks and questioning of witnesses:
That witnesses be given 10 minutes for their opening statement; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows: Round 1: Conservative Party Liberal Party Bloc Québécois New Democratic Party For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows: Conservative Party, five minutes Liberal Party, five minutes Conservative Party, five minutes Liberal Party, five minutes Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
We can now discuss the motion.
The list starts with Ms. Lambropoulos, and then Mr. Beaulieu. I also saw that Ms. Ashton and Mr. Généreux raised their hands.
Ms. Lambropoulos, you have the floor.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC
I'm in favour of the motion, but I want a part added to it.
It would say that all of the slots should be respected, and that we should ensure that every member who is supposed to be speaking gets the chance to speak, unless they can't because the room is being taken over by another committee after ours, but that we respect the time allotted to every member, and that, regardless of whether we have technical problems at the beginning of meetings, everybody's time is respected.
4:20 p.m.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
I move the following amendment:
That witnesses be given five minutes for their opening statement; that, where possible, witnesses provide their opening statement to the committee 72 hours ahead of time; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses in the first round, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows: Conservative Party Liberal Party Bloc Québécois New Democratic Party For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows: Conservative Party, five minutes Liberal Party, five minutes Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes Conservative Party, five minutes Liberal Party, five minutes
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
All right. Thank you.
Now we'll hear comments from the other members.
Just a reminder that we have to go in order, so we need to deal with and vote on the amendment first. Last, we go to the motion.
Ms. Ashton wanted to comment. Please go ahead, Ms. Ashton.
4:20 p.m.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm actually against Mrs. Lalonde's motion and for Mr. Beaulieu's amendment. I think it's a much more effective way to proceed. Giving the witnesses five minutes for their opening statements leaves all the parties more time for questions. I think it's important for all the opposition parties to have their say. It's also worth noting that many committees have voted in favour of this more effective approach.
I was going to move the exact same amendment as Mr. Beaulieu, which is why I plan to support it.
Thank you.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Mr. Chair, I'd like to ask Mrs. Lalonde whether the approach she's proposing is the same one the committee followed before. I think things worked very well before, but I don't recall the NDP and Bloc Québécois having only two and a half minutes.
My preference is to stick to the way we did it before.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
I can answer your question, Mr. Généreux.
The routine motions we're reading are the same ones that were submitted and agreed to in the previous session. They were adopted on February 20, 2020.
We have one last comment before we proceed with the vote.
Mr. Arseneault, the floor is yours.