Public Safety Committee on Dec. 8th, 2021

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Congratulations on getting elected.

Given why we are here today, I would like to move the following motion. I propose:

That, in relation to the study of gun control, illegal arms trafficking and the increase in gun crimes committed by street gang members, the committee hold a minimum of two meetings by Friday, December 17, 2021, in order to allow the Minister of Public Safety as well as representatives of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to appear before the committee as witnesses for a period of three hours each and that the committee report to the House no later than Thursday, March 3, 2022.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

That's not what was passed in the House. I'm wondering if we could get a copy of it.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

This is actually a new motion, which was sent to the clerk.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

It's a new motion.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

It is a motion that clarifies the one proposed in committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jim Carr]

The clerk advises me that there is no English translation of the motion that was just expressed; therefore, he cannot distribute it to members. This seems like a technical problem. If the motion can't be distributed, I don't know how we can deal with it.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Can't we just read it in English?

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

I have on hand the English version of the motion. I can read it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jim Carr]

The clerk will endeavour to distribute the motion in English as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, we can debate the motion if members have opinions they want to express.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

With all due respect, Chair, we can't debate the motion without having it in front of us.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jim Carr]

How long is it going to take to get the English translation?

[The Clerk]

It's available. I just need to send it to everyone else.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

My understanding is that this is not part of the routine motions, so we don't have to have a physical copy. Ms. Michaud is within her rights to bring it forward and have us debate it, so we should discuss the motion that she brought forward.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jim Carr]

The clerk says that we can't debate the motion unless it is in front of members, and it's not in front of members. Is that correct?

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

It wasn't like that on all the other committees I was on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jim Carr]

Let's try to work our way through this small technical glitch. The translation will be available in a matter of moments, but the committee, if it wishes, can begin debating the motion.

Is it the will of the committee to begin debating the motion?

Mr. McKinnon, you have the floor.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

The bells are ringing, so we need unanimous consent to proceed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jim Carr]

Are the bells ringing again? That is a further complication.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

May I suggest that we carry on for 10 minutes, and then adjourn?

[The Chair, Liberal, Jim Carr]

We can't continue the meeting while the bells are ringing, unless we have unanimous consent to do so. Do we have unanimous consent to continue the meeting?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

No.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jim Carr]

We do not.

We have two choices. We can go to the House to vote, and then come back here and resume the committee meeting, or we can satisfy ourselves that the important business of the committee has been discharged already, and we can end the meeting until the next meeting at the call of the chair.

Shall we adjourn? I have hands up.

Go ahead, Madame Michaud.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Chair, if we adjourn the meeting without discussing the motion moved today, will the meeting will be postponed to another day this week? How will we decide?

[The Chair, Liberal, Jim Carr]

The subsequent meeting would be at the call of the chair. That would be a decision we would make, depending on the will of the committee dealing with this particular issue now.

You have the floor, Madame Dancho.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I believe we have a full two hours. Is that correct? If we suspend, we can come back and finish the two hours. That would be wise, given that we're in the middle of a motion. It's the reason we're here.

I suggest that we go to vote, and then return to finish the two hours we have been allotted.