Status of Women Committee on Oct. 13th, 2020

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, I know that the clerk will circulate it, but for your reference, the motions we agreed on in the last session were the impact of rural women, diversity in senior decision makers, cyber-bullying, human trafficking and non-traditional workplaces.

Madam Chair, I noticed your comment referencing the meetings next week, but I don't think the schedule has been determined yet for ongoing meetings other than this one. The opposition whip, our whip and the House administration clerks all need to agree. I am just putting it forth for you, my friend.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

That's a fair point.

Could the clerk comment on when they believe they will know what slot we're allocated?

[The Clerk]

We do not know at this time. As soon as I do have confirmation on a spot, I will let you know.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Okay.

Are you comfortable as a committee then, if I work with the clerk and you send your motions in and then once we know what we're scheduled to do, we will put out an agenda for a subcommittee team to discuss, and the meeting following that would be of the general committee?

Mrs. Wong.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

My hand was up for the same reason—about scheduling.

Most of us are working from home and my home is three hours behind Ottawa. That means if we're meeting at 8:00, I'm meeting at 5:00.

I just wanted to let people know that we have a wide range of time zones. Please consider those who are on the far west or on the far east. I think we represent the whole nation, so I just wanted to make sure.

I don't mind getting up at 4 a.m., but I just want to make sure that I know ahead of time and do not suddenly hear, "Let's meet at 5:30 in the morning".

That's just for your consideration.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Absolutely, Ms. Wong.

If you think about it, if we have the coveted 8:30 time in the morning slot, that becomes 5:30 in the morning for you on the west coast. If we have the 3:30 to 5:30 slot, I believe that puts Ms. Hutchings to 7 at night.

We'll take that into consideration and see if I can have my way with the whips to influence that.

Is there any further business that we want to address today?

Very good, I'm glad to see this group together. This is important work—

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Yes, Ms. Larouche.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

I was wondering about something.

We've gone through everything on the agenda, but we still have some time left. Could we do an initial reading of the motions that people will be sending the clerk, to get the thought process going in advance of the subcommittee's examination?

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

It's up to the will of the committee. We have the time if you're interested to hear some of the motions that Ms. Larouche, the NDP, and the Conservatives have prepared. Perhaps the Liberals have some as well. The clerk may have the ones that were previously presented. We could hear those.

Mr. Serré.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Madam Chair, it would take too long to read. If I understood correctly, the clerk will be emailing them to everybody. Reading them today would not be a productive use of our time. Maybe discussing conceptually what we want first, yes, but not reading the motions, because we have to go slowly, and it takes time. We're going to get them from the clerk's office. Why would it be beneficial to read the motions at this time?

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

It may also be a difficult thing to manage over Zoom. My preference would be that the motions get sent out, so that people can read them and think about them. Then we can have a fulsome discussion with members of the subcommittee, most of whom I expect will be very familiar with these topics that have been raised.

The meeting is adjourned.