Evidence of meeting #1 for Veterans Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was meeting.
A recording is available from Parliament.
The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Alexandre Roger
Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum.
We can now proceed to an election of a chair. I am ready to receive motions to that effect.
Mr. Stoffer.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
Yes, sir. On behalf of our great party, and I'm sure others, we'd like to nominate Rob Anders to continue his great job as chairperson of this great committee.
The Clerk
It has been moved by Mr. Peter Stoffer that Mr. Rob Anders be elected as chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
I declare the motion carried and Mr. Rob Anders duly elected the chair of the committee.
I'm now prepared to receive motions for the first vice-chair.
The Clerk
It has been moved by Todd Russell that Monsieur Brent St. Denis be elected first vice-chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
Mr. Gaudet.
Bloc
The Clerk
Are there any further motions?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
The Clerk
I declare the motion carried and Mr. St. Denis duly elected first vice-chair.
I am now prepared to receive motions for the second vice-chair.
Mr. Gaudet.
The Clerk
It has been moved by Mr. Gaudet that Mr. Stoffer be elected second vice-chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
I declare the motion carried and Mr. Stoffer duly elected second vice-chair.
I will now invite Mr. Rob Anders to take the chair.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
First off, I'd like to welcome some new members to the committee.
We used to have Mr. Cummins, as you well remember. He was a member, but he was busy. Now we have Mr. Cannan, who is with us on the government side. Welcome, Mr. Cannan.
As well, I remember—and, sir, I hope you don't hold this against me, but I had a fond time when I was in your riding for the byelection; it was a great neck of the woods, and I was very impressed. Mr. Russell is joining us for the official opposition. Welcome.
What I'd like to discuss is where we're going now as a committee. We wrapped up the last time....
Oh, I'm sorry; let's forget that. Let's do routine motions. It's more exciting, of course.
Mr. Perron.
Gilles-A. Perron Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Before we move on, perhaps we could solve a small problem, and take another look at it.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
Is it okay if we deal with routine motions first, or do you want to deal with this first?
Bloc
Gilles-A. Perron Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
It's up to you. The thing I want to talk about is mainly “off meeting”. It could be on the minutes, but....
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
If I may suggest, let's get the routine motions out of the way, and then we'll move to you, Mr. Perron. Is that all right?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
All right.
I have just discussed with the clerk whether or not these routine motions were all previously agreed to by the committee. We all reached previous agreement with regard to these things.
I can't do these all at once—I have to go through each one separately—so bear with me.
If you don't mind, we'll start with services of analysts from the Library of Parliament. I'll read the motion:
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.
Mr. Stoffer is moving that. I don't require a seconder.
(Motion agreed to)
Liberal
Brent St. Denis Liberal Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Again, Mr. Chair, these are as on the record right now.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
Yes. Well, technically there is no record right now, but they were on the record as of the last.... You understand.
The next motion is with regard to the subcommittee on agenda and procedure:
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.
Mr. Stoffer, do you want to move that?
Liberal
Brent St. Denis Liberal Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
I probably raised this last time too, but did the subcommittee ever actually meet? I think we generally conducted the subcommittee-type business with everybody. And I like that. I think regular members who....
So if it's understood that, yes, this is the rule, but if the chair is willing to continue, as we have, involving everybody as a member of the subcommittee--because we're not talking hundreds of people here--then I think that works well.
