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.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
To summarize what is being discussed, my understanding is that we should keep the way we do things and not adopt this amendment. If we make the proposed changes, we will have to change everything. I think we've made it clear that we don't want to reduce the time for witnesses so that they have the leeway and don't feel rushed.
For these reasons, I'd like us to stick to the main idea, which is to keep the motion as it is. I have full confidence in you, Mr. Chair.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you, Ms. Lattanzio.
Having said that, it's important to understand that amendments are always possible. That's why we're continuing our discussions. If there's a consensus, that's fine.
Mr. Beaulieu, who had tabled an amendment, would now like to speak.
Go ahead, Mr. Beaulieu.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
This may be a final attempt to reach a consensus. In the amendment, we would allow witnesses 10 minutes and ask them to send us their speaking notes 72 hours in advance, if possible. After that, the procedure would remain essentially the same, namely, six minutes to the speakers, in the usual order. In the second round, the only change would be that the Bloc Québécois and the NDP, instead of speaking at the very end with two and a half minutes, could fit in between the Conservatives and Liberals, who would each have five minutes. The Bloc Québécois would then have two and a half minutes and the NDP would have two minutes. The Liberal Party and the Conservative Party would have five minutes each.
This doesn't seem perfectly fair to me, but it's an improvement over the way things are now.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
That's a given, Mr. Beaulieu.
In these circumstances, I suggest you submit this amendment in due form. You don't need to talk about the 10 minutes. You only have to mention the speaking notes being sent 72 hours in advance if possible. The second part could then be amended as you wish. Once you've tabled it, we'll put it to a vote.
Mr. Beaulieu, try to put something together for us for this amendment.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
I'll read you the amendment, which goes like this:
That witnesses be given seven and a half minutes for their opening statement. That, if possible, witnesses provide the Committee with their opening remarks 72 hours in advance. 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 Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes Conservative Party, five minutes Liberal Party, five minutes.
The Clerk
If there is no further debate, vote on the amendment to the motion and, if it's adopted, vote on the motion as amended.
Liberal
Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC
This is the last time I will comment on this topic. I would be in complete agreement with the motion if we were to reduce the time for the witnesses' presentations a little. They will be present to answer all our questions during the meeting. So we won't just hear them for five minutes. It is more important that each member of the committee be able to ask questions.
I would agree, whether we change the order or not, because I think the priority is that every member of the committee has the opportunity to ask questions.
Would we be willing to change the time allotted for speeches?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
We'll see what the members think.
Let's start with Mrs. Lalonde. Then it will be Mr. Beaulieu's turn.
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
Mr. Beaulieu's amendment contains many items.
Would it be possible to vote on certain points of the amendment separately, Mr. Beaulieu?
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Absolutely.
I'm not sure whether this is the appropriate time to respond to Ms. Lambropoulos, but we could also compromise and establish that the witnesses have seven and a half minutes.
I'm not sure whether that would work for her.
Conservative
Marc Dalton Conservative Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Mr. Chair, we can tell the guests that they are not required to speak for 10 minutes. They will have the opportunity to do so, and if they really need 10 minutes, they will have them.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
I'm sorry, but I feel like I'm going in circles.
We have often brought in several organizations at the same time. We can't give them less than 10 minutes because of the variety of organizations or representatives who share that time. It's never 10 minutes per organization.
We bring in organizations that are experts in a specific field, and that's why we call them in. I am telling you, 10 minutes is really not a long time. Usually, witnesses need to be interrupted before they're finished. Also, if we have several organizations on a specific issue, I prefer to stick to the 10 minutes and keep things as they are.
In addition, I would suggest that, to address the concerns of Ms. Ashton and Mr. Beaulieu—and we all agree that it should be done by motion—that we defer to the chair to make sure that everyone is able to ask questions in the second round, and that if the time for questions is reduced, it will be in proportion to the time allocated to each party.
Liberal
Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC
No, thank you.
Since you recognized me, I'm going to say again that 7.5 minutes would be great, and I would completely support that, Mr. Beaulieu.
Liberal
Liberal
Terry Duguid Liberal Winnipeg South, MB
Begrudgingly, Mr. Chair, I would support 7.5 minutes. It's not ideal, but it's between the five and the 10 minutes that we talked about.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you very much.
Mr. Beaulieu, so you can see where this is going.
For the last time, provide us with the full amendment. Then we'll vote on the amendment, after which we'll vote on the motion.
We'll go to Mrs. Lalonde, who wants to comment, followed by Mr. Beaulieu.
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
Further to my last comment, I was wondering whether Mr. Beaulieu was prepared to have us read his amendment in its entirety, but to vote on the parts of his amendment separately, if that's possible, Mr. Chair.