Evidence of meeting #1 for Public Safety and National Security in the 42nd 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.
11:05 a.m.
The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Jean-Marie David
Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum.
I must inform members that the clerk of the committee can only receive motions for the election of the chair. The clerk cannot receive other types of motions, cannot entertain points of order, nor participate in debate.
Therefore, we can proceed to the election of the chair.
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the chair must be a member of the government party.
I am ready to receive motions for the chair.
Mr. Mendicino.
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
Mr. Clerk, I would like to nominate Robert Oliphant to be chair of this committee.
11:05 a.m.
The Clerk
Mr. Mendicino has moved that Mr. Oliphant be elected chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
I declare Mr. Oliphant duly elected chair of the committee and I invite him to take the chair.
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair (Mr. Robert Oliphant (Don Valley West, Lib.)) Liberal Rob Oliphant
Just before we proceed to the election of the vice-chairs and then our routine motions, I would like to thank you for choosing me to be your chair. I have sat on this committee before, two parliaments ago, and it's incredibly important and interesting work. I also want to say that we are committed, on the government side, to ensuring that the committees run as bodies that are listening to all parliamentarians equally. My task, as the chairperson, will be to be your chairperson. Very clearly, I'm not here as the government chairperson, I'm here as the committee chairperson. I will endeavour to make sure that our procedures, our discussions, our debates, and our reports are fully encompassing of all the opinions and views of all the members. Obviously, we will get to situations in which we're having votes. I will ensure that the votes are fair and done well. I'm looking forward to a committee that seeks to make sure that Canada and Canadians are safe and that the rights of Canadians are protected while we're making our country safe. That will be our goal as a committee.
We'll go to the election of the vice-chair. I understand that there are to be two vice-chairs, one from the Conservative Party of Canada and one from the New Democratic Party.
Do I have nominations for vice-chair?
Mr. O'Toole.
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
Erin O'Toole Conservative Durham, ON
On behalf of the official opposition of Canada, I congratulate you on your election to chair, your return to Parliament, and your continued interest in this important file for Canadians.
On behalf of the Conservative Party, the official opposition, it's my pleasure to nominate MP Larry Miller to be vice-chair of this committee. Mr. Miller is unable to be here today, so he's being nominated in absentia. He certainly has our support.
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
Are there any other nominations?
Mr. Larry Miller has been nominated to be the first vice-chair. All agreed?
We will send our congratulations.
(Motion agreed to)
Just for my clarification, who are the members of the committee?
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
11:05 a.m.
NDP
Matthew Dubé NDP Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Congratulations, Mr. Chair.
I have many great, esteemed NDP colleagues, but since they've decided to leave me here alone today, I will nominate myself.
11:05 a.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
I believe that there will be no other nominations then, if I am correct.
Thank you and congratulations to you, as well, Mr. Dubé.
Now we move to routine motions. You'll have routine motions presented that have been prepared for us by the clerk. We are going to walk through each of them and deal with them as we go.
I think it would be appropriate to have a mover for each of the motions, and we will entertain any discussion or debate and any amendments.
The first one is with respect to services of analysts from the Library of Parliament.
It is moved by Mr. O'Toole:
That the Committee retain the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament, as needed, to assist the Committee in its work. These services may be requested at the discretion of the Chair.
(Motion agreed to)
Would the analysts like to join us at the table, now that you've been invited?
For those new members of Parliament—and it may be your first committee meeting—you will recognize that the analysts and the clerk make our lives livable. Thank you for your work already, and we look forward to this work over the next many months. It's great to see you again.
Next is a motion on the subcommittee on agenda and procedure.
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
I move:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of the Chair, the two Vice-Chairs and two Government Members.
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
That is somewhat different from the prepared motion. You will notice that instead of “a member from the government and the Parliamentary Secretary”, in the motion we have “two government members of the committee”, recognizing a change in direction.
(Motion agreed to)
We have a motion around quorum.
Go ahead, Ms. Damoff.
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
I move:
That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings and to receive and publish evidence when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four (4) members are present, including one member from the opposition and one member of the government.
(Motion agreed to)
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
On distribution of documents I move:
That only the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the Committee and only when such documents exist in both official languages and that the witnesses be advised accordingly.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Erin O'Toole Conservative Durham, ON
Mr. Chair, I have a question on this one because I noticed that, returning to Parliament, we were issued new iPads. Are all documents going to be distributed through that device? If so it should probably be reflected in this motion.
11:10 a.m.
The Clerk
As much as possible, when documents are given to me in advance, they'll be available on your iPad, but since they need to be scanned, if witnesses show up with paper, we'll just make copies and distribute those to the members. Then after the meeting they'll be transferred to the iPad.
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
Would you understand “distribute” to include electronically or paper?
11:10 a.m.
The Clerk
Yes.
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
All in favour?
(Motion agreed to)
Regarding our working meals, go ahead Mr. Mendicino.
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
I'm happy to take care of this important piece of business.
That the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the Committee and its Subcommittees.
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
All in favour?
(Motion agreed to)
Is there any discussion on dietary restrictions? I'm just kidding.
On witnesses' expenses, could I have a motion, Mr. O'Toole?
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Erin O'Toole Conservative Durham, ON
Mr. Chair, I move:
That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses not exceeding two (2) representatives per organization; and that, in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.