Evidence of meeting #1 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Thank you, Mr. Barsalou-Duval.
To the main motion, are there any further questions or comments?
(Motion as amended agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Churence Rogers Liberal Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL
The next motion is on “Document Distribution”:
That only the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee and only when the documents are available in both official languages and that witnesses be advised accordingly.
(Motion agreed to)
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Churence Rogers Liberal Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL
The title of the next motion is “Working Meals”:
That the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.
(Motion agreed to)
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Churence Rogers Liberal Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL
For “Travel, Accommodation and Living Expenses of Witnesses”, the motion is:
That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses, not exceeding two (2) representatives per organization; and that, in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.
(Motion agreed to)
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Fayçal El-Khoury Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
Congratulations to the chair; and to all members, I believe we're going to do a good job.
This is the motion that deals with the presence of staff at in camera meetings.
That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to have one staff member present at in camera meetings and that one additional person from each House officer's office be allowed to be present.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Thank you, Mr. El-Khoury.
I'll go to the motion shortly, but I'm hearing through translation both the speaker, Mr. El-Khoury, and the translator at the same time. Is there any way that translation can turn the volume down on the speaker when we're trying to listen to the translation into English?
Folks, when speaking, go down to the interpretation part of the toolbar at the bottom and press it. If you're going to be speaking French, you can press “French”, and if you're going to be speaking English, press “English”. That way, we can hear it loud and clear.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Are there any questions or comments on that motion?
(Motion agreed to)
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
Fayçal El-Khoury Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
The next motion deals with transcripts of in camera meetings.
That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be kept in the committee clerk's office for consultation by members of the committee or by their staff.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Are there any questions or comments on this motion?
(Motion agreed to)
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
Fayçal El-Khoury Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
The motion on notices of motion reads as follows:
That 48 hours notice, interpreted as two (2) nights, shall be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the committee, unless the substantive motions relates directly to business then under consideration, provided that: (1) the notice be filed with the clerk of the committee no later than 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday; that (2) the motion be distributed to members in both official languages by the clerk on the same day the said notice was transmitted, if it was received no later than the deadline hour; and that (3) notices received after the deadline hour or on non-business days be deemed to have been received during the next business day and that when committee is travelling on official business, no substantive motions may be moved.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Are there any questions or comments on this motion?
(Motion agreed to)
3:45 p.m.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Mr. Chair, can I ask a quick question?
Mr. El-Khoury's translation was not working. I'm concerned there may have been a motion that was either skipped, or there was one that was read twice. I want to confirm with the clerk that we covered access to in camera meetings as well as transcripts of in camera meetings.
3:45 p.m.
The Clerk
Yes, we did cover both.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Thank you, Madam Clerk. Thank you, Mr. Bachrach.
Mr. El-Khoury, please continue.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
Fayçal El-Khoury Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
The following motion deals with Orders of Reference from the House respecting bills:
That, in relation to Orders of Reference from the House respecting Bills,
(a) the clerk of the committee shall, upon the committee receiving such an Order of Reference, write to each member who is not a member of a caucus represented on the committee to invite those members to file with the clerk of the committee, in both official languages, any amendments to the Bill, which is the subject of the said Order, which they would suggest that the committee consider;
(b) suggested amendments filed, pursuant to paragraph (a), at least 48 hours prior to the start of clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill to which the amendments relate shall be deemed to be proposed during the said consideration, provided that the committee may, by motion, vary this deadline in respect of a given Bill;
and (c) during the clause-by-clause consideration of a Bill, the Chair shall allow a member who filed suggested amendments, pursuant to paragraph (a), an opportunity to make brief representations in support of them.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Are there any questions or comments?
(Motion agreed to)
Madam Clerk, I believe we covered all the routine motions.
3:45 p.m.
The Clerk
Absolutely. It is up to the committee to decide if there are any other motions to be adopted as routine motions.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
Maninder Sidhu Liberal Brampton East, ON
I don't have a routine motion. I have a regular motion, but I will talk about that once we're done with routine motions.
3:45 p.m.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
There were three routine motions that were carried last time that did not appear on the list that was just read out. I would like to move them one at a time, if that would be in order.
The first one is:
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; b) to draft a report; c) briefings concerning national security; and d) for any other reason, with the unanimous consent of the committee.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Thank you, Mr. Bachrach.
Are there any questions on that motion?
Mr. Bittle.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
My only concern about this motion is the unanimous consent motion. I'm in agreement that our priority should be to be open to the public and for debate to be there. I'm just going back to my time served on PROC. I believe Ms. Kusie might have been there during that time, and I know we dealt with a number of issues not related to national security. We dealt with issues related to security of the House. We dealt with issues related to collective agreements. We dealt with other issues that came up, such as business confidences and those types of issues that don't fall necessarily onto that list. I worry that one member, be it a government member or an opposition member, may be able to stifle an opportunity to hear from a witness.
I also remember one witness from PROC who was a member of the Ottawa police force who just didn't want his identity to be acknowledged. It was an issue of his own security and his family's security. I don't know if we'll run into those issues, but if we narrow it too much and give an opportunity for one member to scuttle the opportunity to hear from a witness, that really limits our opportunity to debate, especially if it's on a particular issue of importance that's before the committee. We may have very specific instances. I did bring up that Ottawa police officer with regard to hate crimes. That might have been before Ms. Kusie joined our committee. We dealt with the collective bargaining agreement for the Parliamentary Protective Service. We dealt with legal issues before the committee.
There's more than just that point that can come up. My worry is that any one member can stop a witness from appearing if it comes up.
I see Mr. Bachrach has a response, so I'll stop talking for now.