Evidence of meeting #35 for Public Safety and National Security in the 44th 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.
11:20 a.m.
Conservative
Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
Mr. Chair, it sounds like we've reached a bit of a consensus, so I propose just formally, or informally formally, that we get the work plan and that we commit as a committee to at the next meeting setting some time aside for committee business and seeing where we can fit this in before the holidays come. That seems far away, but it really will come very quickly, as we know.
If we can get just a general consensus to agree to that—that once we get the work plan, at our next meeting we set aside some committee time and we hammer out a time when we can hear from these officials—that would be our proposal.
11:20 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you, Ms. Dancho.
At this point, we do have a motion on the floor. I think, from what has been said, there is a will to withdraw that motion.
Do we have unanimous consent to withdraw that motion at this time?
Go ahead, Ms. Dancho.
11:20 a.m.
Conservative
Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
Mr. Chair, before we agree to withdraw it, can we just hear...? We would agree to withdraw it if we agreed in principle to what I've just proposed.
11:20 a.m.
Liberal
11:20 a.m.
The Clerk
Ms. Michaud would like to speak.
11:20 a.m.
Bloc
Kristina Michaud Bloc Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I tend to agree with what Ms. Dancho has just said. When we all have the work plan in front of us, we will be able to decide where it can fit into the agenda. On the other hand, I expect the study on Bill C‑21 to be quite long. We have a lot of witnesses to hear and we will have amendments to consider. Even with the work plan in front of us, I think it will be difficult to put our finger on a date. However, we can still do it. If we withdraw the motion today and decide on a date together, that is fine with me.
11:20 a.m.
Liberal
11:20 a.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Mr. Chair, I have just a comment and a question, I guess, for Ms. Dancho.
You're suggesting that we cut short the minister's appearance on Tuesday in order to deal with committee business and the calendar, or would it make more sense to do it...? We're hoping to have him here Tuesday on Bill C-21, which I think we all agree is an important piece of legislation.
Perhaps our new chair could schedule something on Thursday, following the hour with the chief of the defence staff. We're hoping he can appear on Thursday morning.
11:20 a.m.
NDP
Alistair MacGregor NDP Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
Mr. Chair, I'm not in favour of cutting any time from the minister and his officials. I think we all want to maximize our two hours there.
Time is a valuable currency in parliamentary business. Once you spend it, you don't get it back. One thing I will commit to is having a conversation with the Conservative colleagues on this committee off-line and seeing if we can arrive at a consensus so that when we do come to a committee meeting to decide on this, we're pretty much all aligned.
I'll commit to that, Ms. Dancho.
11:20 a.m.
Conservative
Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for the comments from Ms. Damoff, Mr. MacGregor and Ms. Michaud.
We always have great off-line conversations and build a lot of consensus there. It saves us a lot of time. I would agree that we do not want to cut into Mr. Mendicino's time at committee. It's very valuable. I was thinking that we would add another half an hour or 15 minutes to the end of a committee. I know we have had resources do that in the past. Again, I'm very open.
I'm just not familiar with when we're going to get the work plan. In fact, we didn't get firm confirmation until just now from Ms. Damoff of what we were looking at next week. Perhaps the clerk could let us know when we can expect that work plan.
What we can certainly commit to is meeting off-line, but I would like consensus that we will get a date in there before the holidays at the very least, and preferably in the next month. If we can just get the commitment from everyone that we will hear from these officials before the new year at the very minimum, that would be acceptable for us to withdraw that motion.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you, Ms. Dancho.
I will be meeting with the clerk next week about the work plan. We will do our best to get it facilitated and distributed to the committee as soon as possible.
In any event, do I take it we have unanimous consent to withdraw Ms. Dancho's motion?
I'm seeing agreement, I believe, around the table.
11:25 a.m.
The Clerk
Yes.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you, Ms. Dancho. We'll consider your motion withdrawn.
(Motion withdrawn)
I understand that you will be meeting with the other leads on this matter and will come up with a consensus. We will do our best, from the chair's perspective, with the clerk and analysts, to get that work plan out ASAP.
Are there any other comments, questions or concerns?
Ms. Dancho.
11:25 a.m.
Conservative
Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
Mr. Chair, can we just get confirmation on what next week is going to look like? Can you walk us through what's been confirmed, please?
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
As currently proposed, we will have the minister and officials on Tuesday for the full meeting. I don't believe the minister will be there for the full meeting. That is pretty normal for the start of looking at a new bill.
We have, I believe, confirmation of the chief of the defence staff for an hour for the following Thursday.
That potentially leaves an hour at that time to discuss other things such as committee business of this sort.
Does that work? Okay.
Are there any further comments?
Seeing none, I thank you all for your diligence and your hard work.
With that, we are adjourned.