Hear, hear!
Evidence of meeting #26 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 soldiers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #26 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 soldiers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
Committee members, we have a couple of other things on our plate.
There is a question about some sort of motion so we can table the report. It's actually best if the committee sets a date and I just go ahead and execute that.
I guess that is partly dependent on when Michel thinks he can have that ready.
Michel Rossignol Committee Researcher
The corrections are ready to be sent to the publication service. I'm still waiting for information from the department. There's one issue, and there might be a delay there. Otherwise there's a need for at least two days for the verification of the text and so on in the final preparation.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
Do you think it would be fair to set a date for sometime in the week that we resume, or do you think that would be too early? Would that be presumptuous?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
Okay. How about we set it for maybe the Wednesday of the week we come back? Does anyone know what that date is?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
It's the 28th. All right. I was thinking the Wednesday....
Monsieur Perron, are we going to have a discussion?
Bloc
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
I was thinking I could do it on the Wednesday, but if you prefer that I do it on a committee day....
Bloc
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
If the committee would prefer that I do it on a day the committee is sitting.... Of course I probably wouldn't do it while the committee is sitting, but right around the time of question period or immediately thereafter.
Mr. Stoffer.
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
Mr. Chairman, for the last report we did, we held a press conference following its release. Were you planning to do the same?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
I did not have any intention to do so, sir, but if the committee would like to, we could probably arrange something.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
I asked because I just thought it went very well. You spoke and Betty spoke, and a member from each party spoke. It shows, if anything, that committees can work together and that when members of Parliament put their heads together we can come up with a pretty good report.
I thought the last one we did was very good. I think that doing it here as well would be good, because the health of soldiers and their families is on everyone's mind these days. And here's a report helping government, giving positive, concrete suggestions unanimously from this committee on how to move forward.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
Okay, I'm fine with that. I'd like everybody to maybe consider....
I'll let you speak, Mr. Shipley, but I just want to add this to the debate. Maybe Wednesday would be better than a Tuesday or a Thursday, just because the report has to be tabled in the House, and that's usually done after question period. There are exceptions to that, but I think it's on Mondays and Fridays, when attendance is relatively low.
So if I were to submit the report on a Wednesday, after question period, then we could hold a press conference, if we want, after the tabling of the report, because I don't think we could really hold the press conference prior to the tabling of the report. And if we have committees scheduled for 3:30 to 5:30, I think you will understand that given that question period ends at three o'clock, it's difficult to fit a press conference in that half hour—if that's what you want to do.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
So that was the rationale.
Anyhow, as best we can, then we'll try to aim for....
Sorry, Monsieur Perron.
Conservative
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
I assume Mr. Stoffer would second that.
Fair enough then. Unless there's any debate or discussion on that, we'll take a vote on it. So all those in favour of the motion for tabling the report on Wednesday, May 28, with a press release.
(Motion agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]
Now I just want to go quickly to May 27, which of course will be the Tuesday. That will be televised and we will be having the minister. It's going to be on the main estimates.
The minister will be here on the main estimates. There also will be the supplementary estimates. If the committee wishes—and this is your prerogative, as it's your committee—to have a motion moved so that you can question the minister on both the main estimates and the supplementary estimates at the same time, then you can choose to do so.
