Transport Committee on Nov. 25th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

It is agreed.

Now we will debate the subamendment that was put forward by Mr. Lauzon. Is that correct?

[An hon. member]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Okay.

For that, Mr. Albas, I'll turn the floor over to you, sir.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC]

Thank you.

I'm going to say this because some people would say that I'm capitalizing on the committee's time too much: We have had months during which an invitation was made multiple times by the clerk. That was to invite former minister Freeland and the Minister of Public Safety to come here on BC Ferries. They have not done that. It was the decision of those responsible not to come.

If we do the subamendment Mr. Lauzon made, we are, in essence, directing the analysts to begin drafting a report while we still have an open floor on the testimony. To me, that is inconsistent and incoherent. I understand that Mr. Lauzon wants to be as courteous as possible to his colleagues. I understand it, because that's what a good colleague will try to do—invite them to give them another opportunity—but they declined multiple times. We're at the tail end of the year, but we were dealing with this issue as early as August. I would say that the minister and former minister have made their beds and can sleep in them now.

I think we need to move on from BC Ferries in the way this amendment already quantifies.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Albas.

Mr. Kelloway.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Sydney—Glace Bay, NS]

The beds analogy aside, Mr. Chair, former minister Freeland was here, I believe, in July. She was invited once, not multiple times—

[An hon. member]

It was on BC Ferries.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Sydney—Glace Bay, NS]

Yes, it was on BC Ferries. Thank you.

I think we need to be clear on the facts. If we look at where we are, we've had quite a ride this past session, in terms of this committee. Whether it's the trucking study we did—again, I truly want to thank Xavier for putting it forward—or the amendments put forward in the speech by Mr. Albas.... I think there was a lot of good in that intervention by Mr. Albas. We're at a point now where.... We can look at former minister Freeland once again. There was one invite. We can invite again, and then see where we are after that.

We're on a very good footing to get something accomplished here today. It's the art of discussion, collaboration and compromise over a period of time. My hope is that we can accept this and move it forward.

We now have multiple tentacles to this, which is not a bad thing, in terms of the trucking study, Via Rail and ports. Ports are important to me. I think they're important to all of us. I understand that this has been studied before. Think about a year ago versus where we are now. The world has changed. Where we are going as a country is definitely changing, in terms of economic development and a whole host of things.

I hope we can move forward with this change. It was made in good faith. There have been multiple invites sent to the ministers. Let's get the ministers here. Let's invite them and move forward on something that's very important to Quebeckers and Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

Thanks.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Kelloway.

I'll turn it over to Mr. Lawrence.

Before that, I think former minister Freeland and Minister Robertson appeared on August 1, specifically on BC Ferries.

Mr. Lawrence.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Thank you.

There have been multiple requests. We can bicker about the specifics, but at the end of the day, more interesting to me than the particular language is getting the ministers here. It's one thing to invite.... In my six years, I have seen many invitations to Liberal ministers go without their actually appearing.

The one thing for which I will give credit where credit is due is that every time a parliamentary secretary has committed to me that the minister will be there, they have shown up. It would go a long way if Mr. Kelloway would vouch for his ministers by saying that this isn't just an invitation, and he will actually get them here. These aren't people in far-off lands. They have offices next to ours whom Mr. Kelloway, I assume, would talk to as parliamentary secretary for transportation. I hope he would speak to Mr. MacKinnon daily. If he says Mr. MacKinnon can be here, I will take him at his word.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Mr. Albas.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC]

Can I have you work with the clerk and clarify something? We invited former minister Freeland after she resigned, because there were a number of questions about her testimony that were blatantly contradicted in the documents we received in regard to BC Ferries. It's my understanding that the clerk, once he was asked by the committee to invite both the Minister of Public Safety and the former minister, would have done that more than once.

I would like the clerk to clarify whether entreaties were made on more than one occasion since we asked and invited her to come in as the former minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Colleagues, we'll suspend for a minute or two while he looks that up, and we'll reconvene after we get that information.

The meeting is suspended to the call of the chair. It shouldn't be too long, colleagues.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I call the meeting back to order.

Colleagues, the clerk was able to do some research while we were suspended and found the information to show that Ms. Freeland—former minister Freeland—was invited September 18 following her appearance on August 1, and she was unfortunately unable to attend. That clears things up for committee members.

Mr. Albas, the floor is yours.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC]

Was she unable or unwilling?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I believe the wording was “unavailable”.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC]

Okay.

As far as I've seen, we've made that in good faith. It was followed up. I'd like to move on with the report. I would like to give our analysts some closure. I would like to give all of us some closure.

I don't agree with the subamendment from Mr. Lauzon, although I understand why he moved it. It's a courteous thing to try to do, but I think at some point we just have to say we'll move on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Albas.

I don't know if we're going to have support for this, but we will go to a vote. There's nobody else on the speaking list.

Please, guys; it's a Christmas miracle.

(Subamendment agreed to: yeas 5; nays 4)

Colleagues, the subamendment has passed, so we'll go to the discussion on the amendment.

With that, I'll turn it over to you, Mr. Albas.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC]

I would just hope that the clerk would invite both the Minister of Public Safety and the former minister of transport to come to committee. It's really important for the committee in terms of the analysts knowing what they can.... They may have material testimony that will change the nature of the report.

I hope, since Mr. Lauzon has offered the courtesy and the Bloc has supported that courtesy, that this committee would immediately ask them, that they would be pressed to immediately pick a date and that it would be as early as afforded under this motion so that we can give the analysts the time they need to make room. If the answer is no, then I also hope that is reported back to us at the earliest opportunity, because I believe that ministers have a duty to be accountable. At that point, I would discuss reporting to the House their failure to attend.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Albas.

Monsieur Barsalou-Duval.

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

Mr. Chair, I don't want to speak about the motion per se. However, since I don't see any other hands raised, I would like to draw your attention to something.

If we do indeed pass the motion, I would like to move another motion. I would ask you not to adjourn the meeting before I've had a chance to move my proposed motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Barsalou‑Duval.

Are there any other questions or comments?

We'll go to a recorded vote on the amendment as amended.

(Amendment as amended agreed to: yeas 9; nays 0)

I'll turn the floor over to you, Mr. Albas.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC]

I'm going to print this recorded division and put it up in my office for posterity.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Albas.

Colleagues, we are now in discussion on the motion as amended. Are there no takers? Okay.

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

Is this the right time to move my motion, Mr. Chair?