Public Safety Committee on Aug. 10th, 2010

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

I did not make a motion. I made a point of order. In that point of order, I indicated what the appropriate procedures were. That's why I made the point of order.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

Was it a motion or not a motion?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

I made only a point of order. I did not introduce a motion.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

Okay.

It was a point of order, Mr. Rathgeber. It wasn't a motion that Mr. Volpe made.

Mr. Holland, your point of order isn't--

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

My point of order is simply that the point of order raised by Mr. Volpe was that the matter before the committee was inadmissible because it was a matter that belonged at transport. The committee made the determination to not uphold the decision of the chair. The chair said that he felt it was in order and the committee said it wasn't in order. It is no longer before the committee.

I had the floor. I moved a motion. Now we need to proceed to the motion, which is that we go to the next item of business.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

Okay.

So does the committee wish to proceed, which requires unanimous consent, to--

[An hon. member]

No, no.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

Mr. Jean.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, I understand that Mr. Volpe did not move a motion. To my understanding, if he didn't move a motion, then why are we not back on the business of the day?

My understanding is that you were challenged and that your ruling to find it out of order was defeated. That does not mean we don't go back to where we were. It doesn't mean that we don't deal with it. The committee didn't decide to go forward with any other committee business.

Just as a matter of record, I mean, the jurisdiction of the public safety minister is fivefold: emergency management, national security, crime prevention, law enforcement policy, corrections policy.

Mr. Chair, further, we know now, we have information, that there are people boarding planes, and all Canadians know there are people boarding planes, right now in Canada, with their faces covered.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

What's the point of order?

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Is that not an issue of security that is important today, not whether--

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

You've already ruled on this, Mr. Chair.

A point of order: you've already ruled on this.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

--police officers misbehaved in Toronto...?

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

Hold on, Mr. Jean, hold on.

Mr. Jean, I'm taking that your point of order is that it is appropriate for this committee to come back to the subject matter. Is that your point of order?

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Absolutely.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

That's after my decision was overruled.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Yes.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

So it is appropriate: that's your point of order.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Yes.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

Okay. We'll deal with that.

We're going to suspend.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

Could we reconvene, please, committee members?

Having discussed the procedural items that have been happening here, and given the fact that I haven't taken Chair 101 yet in terms of knowing all the procedural things--but I was very prepared to be here today to deal with this issue, to guide it forward and deal with the discussion on this issue--I will excuse myself from the chair because of the lack of confidence in the chair in the first ruling, and someone else can take the chair.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mark Holland]

Members, we've already dealt with the item relative to the matter that the committee was first dealt with today. That means we have only one outstanding item--namely, is there unanimous consent, yes or no, to proceed with the next item of the agenda, which is the G-8 and G-20?

Is there unanimous consent?

[Some hon. members]

Yes.

No.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mark Holland]

Seeing no unanimous consent, I'm adjourning the meeting.