Transport Committee on Dec. 16th, 2021

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

At the end is good.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Ms. Koutrakis, please read them all out. We'll vote at the end.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Very good. I therefore move the following:

That the committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the Chair, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.

That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five members; the Chair, one member from each recognized party; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence published when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including two members of the opposition parties and two members of the government party, but when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

That witnesses be given five minutes for their opening statement; that whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statement 72 hours in advance; that at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows for the first round: 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 minutes Liberal Party, five minutes Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes Conservative Party, five minutes Liberal Party, five minutes.

That only the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee provided the documents are in both official languages, and that the witnesses be advised accordingly.

That the clerk of the committee, at the discretion of the Chair, be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.

That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses not exceeding two representatives per organization; and that in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.

That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff member at in camera meetings and that one additional person from each House officer’s office be allowed to be present.

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; and that the analysts assigned to the committee also have access to the in camera transcripts.

That a 48-hour notice, interpreted as two nights, be required for any substantive motion to be moved in committee, unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration, provided that: (a) the notice be filed with the clerk of the committee no later than 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday; (b) the motion be distributed to Members and the offices of the whips of each recognized party 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; (c) 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 the committee is holding meetings outside the Parliamentary Precinct, no substantive motion may be moved.

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.

That the clerk inform each witness who is to appear before the committee that the House administration support team must conduct technical tests to check the connectivity and the equipment used to ensure the best possible sound quality; and that the Chair advise the committee, at the start of each meeting, of any witness who did not perform the required technical tests.

That all documents submitted for committee business that do not come from a federal department, members’ offices, or that have not been translated by the Translation Bureau be sent for prior linguistic review by the Translation Bureau before being distributed to members.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Ms. Koutrakis.

Are there any questions, comments or debate?

Go ahead, Mr. Barsalou‑Duval.

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

Could you please tell me how many members will sit on the subcommittee? The routine motion I have here doesn't say. Ms. Koutrakis probably mentioned it earlier, but I must have missed it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

That's a good question. The clerk is telling me that it's five members, Mr. Barsalou‑Duval.

Mr. Bachrach.

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

Regarding the list of routine motions that Ms. Koutrakis read out, I think those are the ones on which there is general agreement. I have some additions that I'd like to bring forward for discussion. I wonder if we should vote on the first set and then have that discussion separately or whether you'd like me to bring those motions forward at this point.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Is there unanimous consent to adopt these motions as is and then move on to others?

(Motions agreed to)

Mr. Bachrach, as I see no other hands up, did you want to proceed with your motions?

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

The first routine motion I'd like to bring forward for consideration is one that I believe we passed in the last Parliament. It relates to televised appearances of ministers. The wording of the motion is very simple:

That whenever a Minister appears before the Committee, every effort be made to ensure that the meeting is televised.

(Motion agreed to)

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

Mr. Chair, I have one more motion here. This relates to in camera meetings, and again, it is similar to a motion that was adopted in the last Parliament. It reads:

That the committee may meet in camera only for the following purposes: (a) to consider a draft report; (b) to attend briefings concerning national security; (c) to consider lists of witnesses; (d) for any other reason, with the unanimous consent of the committee;

That all votes taken in camera, with the exception of votes regarding the consideration of draft reports, be recorded in the Minutes of Proceedings, including how each member voted when recorded votes are requested.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Bachrach.

Are there any other questions or comments?

Go ahead, Ms. Koutrakis.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Perhaps we should vote on that motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

We are going to discuss it.

Go ahead, Mr. Badawey.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Like last time when this was presented, I can't support this. There's a reason we go in camera for certain items. That's to protect employees, human resources, legal situations, legal discussions and proprietary situations of a lot of different companies that give testimony. It's with respect to that, as well as other situations, such as a negotiation between a union and a company that might come up and we might have to discuss it as a committee.

By the way, I'm not a fan of in camera meetings and I like to see everything out in the open, but it's not up to me in situations such as that. It's with all due respect to those witnesses who come, give testimony, and actually trust that the process won't disclose a lot of what they don't want to disclose in terms of, as I mentioned earlier, those things that should be held in confidence.

That said, in camera meetings are appropriate. They should only be taking place when those things are being infringed upon, such as HR negotiations or legal.

I think Mr. Bachrach, as a former mayor, will be fully aware of that in terms of what municipal acts in different provinces entail, and again, it's with all due respect to those people we deal with.

Unfortunately, Taylor, I won't be able to support this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Badawey.

Mr. Bachrach.

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

Mr. Chair, through you to Mr. Badawey, I appreciate what he's saying. I believe item (d) accommodates the type of situation that he has brought up. If we're in a situation as a committee where there is some sort of sensitive topic that deserves a confidential treatment, the committee can choose to go in camera by unanimous consent. The members of the committee can use their discretion in terms of the public interest, maximizing transparency.

What we don't want to see is in camera meetings used to discuss matters that may be difficult for some members to talk about in the public realm but are in the public interest to have the public see our discussions and hear our questioning, and so on.

I think these clauses accommodate the kind of situation that Mr. Badawey has indicated. Certainly coming from local government in British Columbia I know there are very strict provisions for the circumstances in which local governments can go in camera. We should have similar parameters for our committee so that those in camera meetings aren't misused.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Bachrach.

Mr. Badawey.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

I appreciate those comments. However, there are two points I want to make. One is that the key words are “unanimous consent”, and not all the time do we have the luxury of gaining unanimous consent.

The second point goes to your point about item (d). If in fact item (d) covers everything, there's really no need to pass this motion. It's somewhat redundant. Again, unfortunately, Taylor, I just can't support this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Mr. Iacono.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Just to add to my colleague Mr. Badawey, if we can go about it by deciding on a case-by-case basis, that would be more appropriate. I too do not accept this motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Are there any further comments or questions?

Yes, Mr. Bachrach.

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

Mr. Chair, just very briefly, I appreciate that we're of two minds about this and certainly respect the views that my colleagues have brought forward. Perhaps you or the clerk could clarify how the decision to go in camera on a topic would be made.

Mr. Iacono has suggested that it be done on a case-by-case basis, and I have no problem with that. It's more a question of, at whose discretion does the committee go in camera?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Bachrach.

Go ahead, Mr. Badawey.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Mr. Clerk, correct me if I'm wrong, but going to Mr. Bachrach's motion, the appropriate part of the motion is unanimous consent in terms of a motion coming forward. If a case-by-case basis mechanism were to be followed, would it not just take unanimous consent by the committee to, therefore, go to the theme of what Mr. Bachrach is asking for in his motion?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

We're going to turn to Mr. Bachrach to explain this one, if he can.