Veterans Affairs Committee on Nov. 15th, 2007

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

I agree with you, Mr. St. Denis, largely because I don't want another committee meeting in my life—and I think you're the same.

[Brent St. Denis, Liberal, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

So we just suspend or adjourn one meeting, go into a subcommittee, and everybody stays—except for those who, you know—

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Yes. I think we'll carry on as before.

Anything other than that, Mr. Shipley?

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Only one point, that we've just come out of...or we are setting up committees, and one of the ones....

There may be a time when you want to have it, and how you arrange that to happen is entirely up to the committee, but likely the parliamentary secretary should be part of that standing committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Okay, now we're into new territory.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

But if you're willing to stay after, or however you arrange for those....

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Now the circus begins.

Mr. St. Denis.

[Brent St. Denis, Liberal, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

I think it worked well with the chair simply not ever convening a meeting like that, and having it as a group. The simpler thing, if Bev's idea has any support, is that we just don't have a subcommittee, that the subcommittee is deemed to be the whole committee. That's how we have functioned.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

We're taking a speaking order list now.

Mr. Perron.

[Gilles-A. Perron, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

As I read this motion, I am reminded that, in the past, when the Conservatives formed the official opposition and the Liberals were in power, we had the same discussion. The Conservatives were against the parliamentary secretary being a member of the subcommittee and the Liberals were for it. It is the same battle, but everyone has switched sides.

Do we have to start from scratch because we are on different sides of the fence, because we put our hats on differently? It worked well in the past, so why not carry on as before?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Ms. Hinton.

[Betty Hinton, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

In terms of the subcommittee structure, it's lined up quite nicely in the procedural data here: “be composed of the Chair, the two Vice-Chairs and a member of the other opposition party”. If you're going to go to the entire committee, I think you defeat the purpose of having the subcommittee on agenda and procedure.

Now, whether or not the parliamentary secretary is part of that is entirely up to this group, but I think we should maintain what we've had from the beginning so that you don't have long, extended meetings that are out of control. We just need to have what we had on here before. We just elected two vice-chairs, we have a chair, and with one member from the opposition, that would do it up right.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Mr. Shipley.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Perron, I wasn't here at that time. I only came when we won.

I raised that because I know other committees have done it in terms of the functionality of the committee. That was why I raised it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

I take it that wasn't a formal amendment; it was a discussion about a potential amendment and we're letting it die.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Sure.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Good. That's great. I like that.

As it stands, there is no addition of a parliamentary secretary. It's exactly what you read--same old, same old.

Is there any other discussion? No?

Mr. Stoffer moved it. Now, the question:

That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of the Chair, the two Vice-Chairs and a member of the other opposition party.

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

That's wonderful. You can see when we stick to the script how easy it is.

On reduced quorum:

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 three (3) members are present, including one member of the opposition.

Thank you, Mr. Stoffer, for moving that.

Is there any discussion on that? No? Wonderful.

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

On the distribution of documents:

That only the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the Committee and only when such documents exist in both official languages.

Mr. Stoffer is moving that.

Is there any discussion?

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

That was easy.

On 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.

Mr. Gaudet is proposing the motion.

Mr. Perron.

[Gilles-A. Perron, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

That's a part of the discussion that I wanted to kick off.

First, I would like to congratulate you on your reelection to the chair. It is a lot easier to win an election here than in our constituencies.

You are all aware that I have a problem with my health; I have diabetes. At noon, I have to have a bite to eat so that I can keep working in the afternoon. The only problems I see are that I will have to arrange for my snack and not ask questions with my mouth full. It is my problem. So I am sort of asking permission to bring something to eat to this table around 11:30 a.m. or noon so that I can look after myself. I am looking for the consent of the group, really. How can we go about it? I have talked to Alexandre, and he has some suggestions that I would like him to share with you, so that I do not make any mistakes.

Can you talk about the solutions you suggested?

[The Clerk]

There are three options.

The first option is that Monsieur Perron can bring his own meal to the table and deal with that personally.

Another option is that we order meals for every single meeting of the committee, which would come out of the committee budget. That's the second option.

The third option is that we change committee sitting blocks. The clerk is not authorized to do so. It's up to each member to see their whip, and it's up to the whips to decide on that matter. Every committee sits during a particular block. We have switched. We were sitting at 9 to 11; now we are at 11 to 1. We can't sit in room 112 north because the procedure and House affairs committee has to sit there. That's why we're here today, and that's why we'll never be able to sit in the veterans room.

Those are the three options.

[Gilles-A. Perron, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Since this is my problem, I will not speak or vote on your decision.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

We have a speaking order.

I think I know where this is going to wind up, but we'll go through the exercise anyway.

Mr. St. Denis.

[Brent St. Denis, Liberal, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

I'm sure there wouldn't be anybody who wouldn't agree to accommodate Gilles. If it's okay with Gilles, perhaps he could, as he sees fit, snack. There will be times when we have to have a group meal, say during an evening sitting or something like that, but it would probably take more time out of our meeting to pause and have a lunch for everybody. If Gilles is okay simply to manage his own eating during the meeting, certainly I think people would understand.