Status of Women Committee on Feb. 20th, 2020

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

I will start from the top. The amendment is as follows:

That any motion to go in camera should be debatable and amendable, and that the committee may only meet in camera for the following purposes:

(a) to discuss administrative matters of the committee, including the selection and consideration of witnesses

(b) a draft report

(c) briefings concerning national security

(d) protection of privacy of any individuals;

And furthermore, minutes of in camera meetings should reflect on the results of all votes taken by the committee while in camera, including how each member voted when a recorded vote is requested.

We will need to vote on the amendment first.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Would it be possible to get a French version?

[The Clerk]

The amendment regarding in camera procedure reads as follows:

That any motion to go in camera should be debatable and amendable, and that the committee may only meet in camera for the following purposes:

(a) to discuss administrative matters of the committee, including the selection and consideration of witnesses;

(b) a draft report;

(c) briefings concerning national security;

(d) ensure the protection of privacy of individuals;

And furthermore, minutes of in camera meetings should reflect the results of all votes taken by the committee while in camera, including how each member voted when a recorded vote is requested.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Is there any further discussion?

Andréanne, do you have comments or concerns in regard to that?

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

No, it's okay, thank you. It's all right.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

The vote is on the amendment.

(Amendment agreed to)

(Motion as amended agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Seeing no other routine proceedings, does the committee wish to discuss any future business at this time?

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

I think we have all received something from the Journals of the House of Commons regarding the supplementary estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020. This probably needs to be looked at, just as a reminder.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much, Alice, for putting that forward.

I believe everybody has received this. It was in our email last night. There will be the estimates for this committee. In the past we have welcomed the minister and members of the department as we have gone through these expenses in case we had any questions. Would we like to have a discussion on this?

Go ahead, Gudie.

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Long Range Mountains, NL]

I don't know, Madam Chair, what your policy is or how we're going to get to motions, but I would like to suggest, because we have so many new members at the table, that we allow part of one of our first meetings for what I will call Department 101, so that the department can come and give us a brief analysis of where they've been and where they are on some of the stuff. It might help us in preparing and working going forward. That's just for the consideration of the committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Absolutely.

There are a couple of things we do need to take into consideration. The estimates need to be done.

What is the deadline for approval of the estimates?

You said March 24, so we'd like to get everything done ahead of time. At the same time it's really important that we start looking at motions, recognizing that we need to get witnesses here, we need to make a study plan and we need to look at the calendar.

Our next meeting is scheduled for, next week, the 25th, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. During that time we have a few options that we could look at. Gudie has indicated—I hope you don't mind if I use first names—the opportunity to listen to the department, to hear about the work they have done in the past, as well as the work they'll be doing in the future, and there may be things we're not aware of.

Would the committee like to see the members come in here so that we can have a 101 on FEWO?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Ms. Wong.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

Madam Chair, there are now debates in the House about issues that relate to women. Once something is sent to us, I think our new members need to be briefed on how we deal with that. It is a major job of our committee to go over some of the bills or motions that are sent to us to review. I can see a lot of new members here who probably need a briefing as well. I think, when we do the briefing, that part is most important as well. I'd like to ask the chair to include that in our briefing.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

We'll make sure that information is relayed to the department so that as we're going through these briefings it is also discussed. I think we had one bill in the 42nd Parliament, Bill C-337, but there are also opportunities for us to do some incredible studies.

One of the things we've started discussing is getting those motions so we can start getting our work done. This does put a lot of stress on the staff of this committee, but I know we would like to get started. We are already a couple of months in, so let's get the work done.

After discussion with all four parties at this table, we talked about trying to get motions in by tomorrow evening, in both French and English. I see it says in here four o'clock. I will ask the clerk whether there is any opportunity to extend that. I know the Bloc is working on additional motions. Is there a way we can extend that until later on in the evening?

Lindsay, you look concerned.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

When we've provided motions, they've gone to the clerk, and then the clerk provided translation. Is that not the case in this committee? I know with reports—

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Yes, we do both.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

—at the end of studies, we're responsible for translation but not necessarily for motions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

They will take care of that. If you do not have them in both official languages, they will still be accepted. I was just looking at time frames, and whether there was a way we could do it to help out the staff, but whatever you can get done is fantastic.

After speaking to the clerks, I will say it has to be four o'clock.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Chair, I have a question.

We have to file the motions before 4 p.m. tomorrow. According to what I understood, we have to send motions 48 hours in advance, so two nights in advance. If we extend this period, we will not be able to adopt the motions on Tuesday.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

According to the standing order and to the routine motions we've just done, they have to be in by four o'clock tomorrow. You can forget about having to put it in English for yourself. If you can get them in, in French, that would be fantastic. To allow the two sleeps and the two business days, they will have to be in by 4 p.m. tomorrow so that we can consider them on Tuesday.

I'm going to go into an informal discussion, so that we can all discuss this.

I know that there are many motions we want to put forward and there are lots of opportunities for us to study some great things. I know that there are some priorities from each party.

I sat down and spoke quickly with Gudie, as well as Scott and Matthew, about what we should do. On Tuesday at 11 o'clock we will have the department here for the 101. Then at 12 o'clock we will have a meeting where we can discuss the motions and look at them to see what we see as our priority. I think we will see many motions that are very much alike. We can discuss how we want to move forward, so that we can start on a study.

We don't need that 48-hour notice because we're doing this in committee business, but if everybody can get that information in.... I think the most important thing is that we're going to find a lot of motions that are similar. It will probably be just changing some words, so that there will be consensus on everyone's motions as we move forward.

Go ahead, Alice.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

I think that's a great idea.

Very often, when a motion is not well worded, it won't get passed even if we passed it here. That's why we would rather do a good job and not rush through just to get it done.

I agree that we should look at them overall and set our priorities, and also look at the wording in every sense. Sometimes motions get shot down—even by our own parties—because they are not well worded.

Yes, I agree one hundred per cent.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Marc Serré.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to say something about the 48 hours' notice. Motions may be drafted in one official language only, but if a new motion was not filed 48 hours in advance, it can still be presented if it concerns a new matter. Before presenting their motions, parties should ensure that they are in both official languages.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

I'm going to pass this to Stephanie.

Anything that will be distributed through the clerk's office must be in both official languages. When we're doing business, anything that's moved can be in one language. It does not have to be in both languages when it's put forward verbally. Anything that's tabled must be in both official languages.

Does that answer your question, Marc?

Go ahead, Alice.