Tony Valeri

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, October 8th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. As the House knows, there are ongoing discussions concerning the Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne, and in order to facilitate these discussions in the spirit of collaboration and consultation, I believe you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That, unless the House otherwise orders, the Chair shall not receive any further amendment to the proposed amendment to the motion for an Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne.

[Agriculture, October 7th, 2004]

moved:

That this committee take note of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

[Business of the House, October 7th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, we intend to continue this afternoon, tomorrow and next Tuesday with the debate on the Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne.

Members will have observed a number of bills on today's Notice Paper. These bills will be introduced tomorrow. On Wednesday and Thursday of next week, the government will proceed with motions to refer to committee before second reading two of these bills, namely, the bill respecting the protection of children and the bill respecting whistleblowers.

As a consequence of the House schedule this week, the House leaders have been unable to meet, an omission that will be corrected this evening. I will discuss the business for the remainder of next week at that time.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, October 6th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, discussions have taken place with all parties and I believe that you would find consent to revert to statements by ministers in order to hear a short statement by the right hon. Prime Minister and leaders of the other parties as well.

[Address in Reply, October 5th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I move:

That the House do now adjourn.

(Motion agreed to)

[Business of the House, October 5th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the parties and I believe you would find agreement that on Thursday evening a take note debate will take place on the subject of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE, and that this debate take place under the format established by Standing Order 53.1(1) except that the debate would begin at 7:00 p.m. and end no later than 12 midnight and that the Chair would not receive any quorum call during the debate.

[Supply, October 5th, 2004]

I understand that you would find unanimous consent in the House to maintain the number of allotted days in the present period at seven.

[Business of the House, October 5th, 2004]

I move:

That

I. For the purpose of considering the Main Estimates for the year ending March 31, 2005, Standing Order 81 shall apply with the following ad hoc amendments:

1. In section (4) thereof,

(a) the first sentence shall be read as “The main estimates to cover the present fiscal year for every department of government shall be deemed referred to standing committees on or before October 8, 2004.”;

(b) the words “May 31” shall be read as “November 30”; and

(c) the words “May 1” shall be read as “November 1”.

1. On the last allotted day in the period ending December 10, 2004, proceedings shall take place pursuant to section (18) thereof, rather than section (17);

II. Notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 28(2)(a), the House shall sit on October 12, 13, 14 and 15, 2004 and, for the present Session only, Standing Order 28(2)(b) shall be amended by deleting the words “September 30” and by substituting therefor the words “October 29” and by deleting the words “the Monday following Easter Monday” and by substituting therefor the words “June 23, 2005”, provided that the hours of sitting and order of business on Tuesday, October 12, 2004 shall be those of a Wednesday and provided that the recording of any division requested on any debatable motion on October 12, 13, 14 and 15, 2004 shall be deferred to 3:00 p.m. on October 18, 2004;

III. Notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice, in the present Session, the Speaker shall alter the application of the Standing Orders or practices of the House in order to permit the full participation in the proceedings of the House of any Member with a disability;

IV. Notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 104(1) and (2), the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs shall consist of twelve Members; namely, Françoise Boivin, Don Boudria, Bill Casey, Yvon Godin, Michel Guimond, Dale Johnston, Dominic LeBlanc, Judi Longfield, Pauline Picard, Karen Redman, Scott Reid and Chuck Strahl; and the said committee shall, within the first ten sitting days following the adoption of this Order, prepare and report to the House lists of twelve Members to serve on each of the following Standing Committees:

(a) Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development;

(b) Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics;

(c) Agriculture and Agri-Food;

(d) Canadian Heritage;

(e) Citizenship and Immigration;

(f) Environment and Sustainable Development;

(g) Finance;

(h) Fisheries and Oceans;

(i) Foreign Affairs and International Trade;

(j) Government Operations and Estimates;

(k) Health;

(l) Human Resources, Skills Development, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities;

(m) Industry, Natural Resources, Science and Technology;

(n) Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness;

(o) National Defence and Veterans Affairs;

(p) Official Languages;

(q) Procedure and House Affairs;

(r) Public Accounts;

(s) Transport; and

(t) Status of Women;and

V. Notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice, the Chair of each standing committee shall be a Member of the government party, the first Vice-Chair shall be a Member of the official Opposition Party and the second Vice-Chair shall be a Member of an opposition party other than the official Opposition party, except for the Standing Committees on Public Accounts, on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics and on Government Operations and Estimates, whose Chair shall be a Member of the official Opposition Party and the first Vice-Chair shall be a Member of the government party and the second Vice-Chair shall be a Member of an opposition party other than the official Opposition party, and, in the case of the Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations, the Joint Chair acting on behalf of this House shall be a Member of the official Opposition Party and the first Vice-Chair shall be a Member of the government party and the second Vice-Chair shall be a Member of an opposition party other than the official Opposition party;

VI. Notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice, at the beginning of the first session of a new Parliament or whenever there is a vacancy for the position of Deputy Speaker of the House and Chair of Committees of the Whole, and, at the commencement of each session or whenever there is a vacancy for the position of Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole or Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole, the Speaker, after consultation with the leaders of each of the officially recognized parties, shall announce to the House the name of a Member he or she considers to be qualified for the position in question, shall deem a motion to appoint the said Member to have been moved and seconded by appropriate Members, and shall put the question without debate or amendment; and

VII. The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be instructed to report to the House within twenty sitting days of the adoption of this Order the changes to the Standing Orders that are necessary to make sections III, IV, V and VI of this Order permanent..

(Motion agreed to)

[Board of Internal Economy, October 5th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to propose the motion that I put on notice two days ago. This motion was negotiated by House leaders of all parties, and I want to take the opportunity to thank the House leaders for their cooperation in ensuring that these motions move forward.

While I gave notice in order not to have to request the leave of the House to propose the motion, I think all members will have observed that the motion is several hundred words long. Since the motion represents an all party agreement and in order to avoid spending a great deal of time in the House reading aloud a lengthy motion that is in fact printed in the Order Paper, I would suggest that the reading of the motion be dispensed with and that it be put as if read.

[Quebec City Bridge, May 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, in 1997 a $60 million contribution agreement was signed by CN, Transport Canada and Quebec's ministry of transportation. It included major restorations and the painting of a steel structure.

As the hon. member has said, CN is anticipating a funding shortfall and there will be delays in completing the project on time. CN has not approached Transport Canada for additional funding. Should a request for funding be received, the department would evaluate that request and determine at that time how to respond.