Evidence of meeting #1 for Public Safety and National Security in the 39th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was clerk.
A recording is available from Parliament.
November 13th, 2007 / 4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Colin Mayes Conservative Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
I wonder if we could solve this by simply putting these words in: “and that these transcripts may be destroyed at the end of the session by a motion of the committee”.
If the committee decides they're sensitive and wants to protect a witness, then it can make a motion to do so. Is that reasonable?
NDP
Penny Priddy NDP Surrey North, BC
Thank you.
I don't know whether we're debating this or not, because I heard you say we're going to wait till next Tuesday. I'm not sure what is appropriate at this stage in terms of comment, but it seems to me that an in camera transcript that can be accessed by any member of Parliament is a bit of an oxymoron, because it's no longer in camera. It's there for anybody, 308 people, and senators, etc., to paw through.
That worries me--quite a lot actually, given some of the things that I expect are spoken about at this committee. I guess I'm less concerned about how they get destroyed or archived than I am about the fact that you would go to the trouble of having an in camera meeting that is then open to 400 people.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Garry Breitkreuz
I don't know how much longer we want to discuss this.
Ms. Brown.
Liberal
Bonnie Brown Liberal Oakville, ON
I'm wondering if you, as the chair, or if the parliamentary secretary or the clerk knows where all this rewritten set of rules comes from. It seems to me that the defence committee wasted time on it this morning. We're going to waste two meetings on it, and it seemed to me after 13 years that these rules, the simpler rules, worked pretty well. So under whose direction or whose pen did these come to be?
I'd like to know that before I vote on them next Tuesday.
Liberal
Bonnie Brown Liberal Oakville, ON
We don't have to use them. No, we're masters of our own fate. But perhaps you could find out, Mr. Chair, unless you know right now.
Conservative
Liberal
Conservative
Dave MacKenzie Conservative Oxford, ON
--who's going to be going to the committees; they've come from the whip's office.
Conservative
Dave MacKenzie Conservative Oxford, ON
Yes. We brought them here to discuss them, not to try to force them on anybody. My suggestion is that we would want to look at them and then come back. There may be things in here, obviously.
This has turned into an interesting discussion. I haven't been here that many years, but Ms. Barnes and Mr. Cullen have, and obviously in their discussions about the transcripts of the in camera meeting, I think we've all learned something as a result of having the discussion here, whether we adopt this or not. I think we will go away with a better understanding of what the process is.
We all might have had an opinion, but I think we're going to find out from the clerk what the real answer is about the transcripts and so on. So I think from that perspective....
This, for the most part, was to quantify a lot of stuff we're already doing.
Liberal
Sue Barnes Liberal London West, ON
Mr. Chair, could you tell us what you did? What did you do when we had in camera meetings when we were preparing reports? Did you transcribe?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Garry Breitkreuz
No. As far I know, they were not transcribed. The committee did not.... Usually I did whatever the committee decided it wanted to do.
Liberal
Liberal
Sue Barnes Liberal London West, ON
We're talking public safety and security issues, and we're going to transcribe them.
Thank you. I just wanted that information.
Conservative
Dave MacKenzie Conservative Oxford, ON
Just so there's no misunderstanding, we're not asking for this as public safety.
Conservative
Dave MacKenzie Conservative Oxford, ON
This is in all the committees, yes. The committees will make up their minds about what they wish to do.
Conservative
Conservative
Dave MacKenzie Conservative Oxford, ON
Yes. The next one was on working meals. I think the only addition we put in there is to authorize the clerk, in consultation with the chair, to make the necessary arrangements.