Transport Committee on Feb. 18th, 2020

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

I'd like to support what my NDP colleague just said.

Currently, it says one representative per party. So I do not see the point of making any changes, since, no matter what happens with the vice-chairs, the motion before us will be valid.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Mr. Doherty? Okay.

I'll call the vote right now if there are no further questions or comments.

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Are we voting on the amendment or the motion?

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

We're voting on the main motion.

Are we voting on the amendment first...?

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

I'll withdraw it.

(Amendment withdrawn)

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Okay.

We're voting on the main motion.

(Motion agreed to)

Mr. Sidhu.

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

On reduced quorum, I move:

That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence printed when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four (4) members are present, including one member of the opposition and one member of the government, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after fifteen (15) minutes, regardless of members present.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Sidhu.

Are there any questions or comments?

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to put forward an amendment, if I may, to replace the words after “are present” with “including two members from the opposition and two members from the government”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Are there questions or comments on the amendment?

(Amendment agreed to)

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

Thank you.

Mr. Sidhu.

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

On the questioning of witnesses, I move:

That witnesses be given ten (10) minutes for their opening statement; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six (6) minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows: Round 1:

Conservative Party

Liberal Party

Bloc Québécois

New Democratic Party

For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows:

Conservative Party, five (5) minutes

Liberal Party, five (5) minutes

Conservative Party, five (5) minutes

Liberal Party, five (5) minutes

Bloc Québécois, two and a half (2.5) minutes

New Democratic Party, two and a half (2.5) minutes

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Sidhu.

Are there any questions or comments?

Mr. Berthold.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It makes me feel funny to call you that. That's a good thing. I congratulate you.

During the last session, we had difficulties with the time allocated to witnesses. It says: "That ten (10) minutes be given to witnesses for their opening remarks...". If there are four witnesses, that makes 40 minutes for opening remarks, and if there are two witnesses, 20 minutes. That leaves parliamentarians less time for discussion. Under the current wording, it is 10 minutes, regardless of the number of witnesses.

I'd like to hear more specifics on what's being proposed here, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Berthold.

Are there any further questions or comments?

Mr. Doherty.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

I appreciate my colleague's comments. As a matter of fact, I had the very same comment earlier this session. What I would offer is that it's at the discretion of the committee and that when we are planning our witness list, we can have that discussion to come to a unanimous decision around the table on whether to allow or afford our witnesses more time on an as-needed basis.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Doherty.

Are there any questions or comments to add?

Mr. Bachrach.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

I would support the comments of the vice-chair. If a witness group showed up with a number of speakers, we as a committee could make an exception and give them an added amount of time, but having a shorter amount would keep them brief and give the maximum amount of time for questions and answers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

That's great. Thank you.

Mr. Barsalou-Duval. Did I get that right?

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

That seems right.

I agree with my two colleagues. If we have several witnesses and they each have 10 minutes to make their opening remarks, things could get long. If we want to have time to intervene and ask questions, it could be 10 minutes for all the witnesses, and the committee could adjust the time at the end of the meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you.

Are there any further comments or questions? I'm hearing that we're going to leave the motion alone and that if there are any changes that have to be made during the meeting, we can make those prior to it. That's fine.

(Motion agreed to)

Mr. Sidhu.

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

On documents distribution, I move:

That the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the Committee only when the documents are available in both official languages and that witnesses be advised accordingly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Sidhu.

Are there any questions or comments?

(Motion agreed to)

Thank you.

Mr. Sidhu.

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

On working meals, I move:That the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the Committee and its Subcommittees.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Are there any questions or comments?

Mr. El-Khoury.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Chair, as a member of the Liberal Party from Quebec, I would appreciate if at least one or two of the motions were read in French.

Thank you.