Public Safety Committee on Oct. 30th, 2023

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, what Mr. Genuis is doing is highly inappropriate. He's not being relevant, and he's attacking the chair. I think that does a profound disservice to parliamentary democracy.

You certainly have, I think, the support of the vast majority of members of the committee to bring him to order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Julian.

Carry on. You have the floor, Mr. Genuis.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

May I raise a point of order, Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

We have Mr. Genuis on a point of order.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

Ms. O'Connell was permitted to speak at great length on matters that were clearly not matters of order. You've allowed other members to address things that are unrelated to the amendment on the table, but then when I and other Conservative members seek to respond simply in line with matters that were just raised, you immediately cut that off or call that a lack of decorum or something.

I've dealt with lots of chairs who are elected Liberal members of Parliament. I have encouraged them—as I'll encourage you—to aspire to impartiality in the context of their role in the committee, and to seek to enforce the rules.

That's my point of order. I'm happy to return now to my substantive remarks, and that was simply to say that I do have some specific questions that I want to bring to our witnesses with respect to the amendment. I do want to say that Conservative insistence on having three meetings to address the issue of the Bernardo transfer was very reasonable and very well supported, and I'm glad we achieved that result.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Genuis.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

With respect to Bill C-34—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Genuis, come to order.

The Bernardo meetings—the number of meetings we had to discuss that—are not on the table right now. We're discussing NDP-34. Please stick to that.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Chair, as I said, I was seeking to respond in a perfunctory way to comments that were made by Mr. Julian. I think that was reasonable.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Genuis, you had a chance to respond to those remarks by Mr. Julian.

Please carry on with NDP-34.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, I don't understand the basis on which you're saying I had that chance when I did not and was constantly interrupted.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Schiefke, go ahead on a point of order.

[Peter Schiefke, Liberal, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It doesn't look like we're going to be getting back to the business of the bill that we're supposed to be addressing today. We have 22 minutes left before we all have to depart for question period.

I would ask that the guests we have appearing before us—the witnesses—be let go, because 20 minutes spent here is 20 minutes they are not serving Canadians. I would simply ask that they be let go so they can pursue all of their important work.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Schiefke.

Is it the will of the committee to invite the witnesses to—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Can I raise a point of order on that, Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

We're going to decide this matter.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Then no, there isn't agreement.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Is it the will of the committee—

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

I have a point of order.

There's an important point to make here. If we release the witnesses, there's no point in our having the meeting, so we might as well adjourn the meeting. The meeting is to hear from the witnesses. What is the rest of the meeting if we—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I'm game to adjourn the meeting. There's no point in dismissing the witnesses and not adjourning the meeting if we're continuing to discuss the clause—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

It really depends on what you want to discuss.

Ms. Michaud, go ahead on a point of order.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

If my Conservative colleagues want the officials to stay, perhaps they could ask them questions on NDP‑34 instead of raising points of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

It boils down to the will of the committee.

Do we want to carry on and ask questions of the witnesses?

[Some hon. members]

Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Genuis, you have the floor on NDP-34.