Finance Committee on Oct. 8th, 2020

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Fragiskatos.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

The vote was called. There are no points of order—

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

I said that I would not bring up points of order unless—

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

The vote is already called. We're in the vote—

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

—the issues were important. The point of order was recognized.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

That's not true. The clerk has not started the roll call yet, nor has the chair read out the motion, so technically it hasn't begun.

Mr. Chair, a point of order right now is completely in order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Fragiskatos.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll continue.

As a member of this committee, I do not believe—and I think my Liberal colleagues would echo my reservations—the points that Mr. Fraser and other Liberal members have brought up here have been dealt with. I understand that certain members in the opposition want to move towards a vote; it sounds as though they're unanimous in that on the opposition side. However, I still think we have not dealt with the matter that has been raised before the committee, which, as I stated in my remarks, based on what we find in House of Commons Procedure and Practice by Bosc and Gagnon, are questions that hinge on and relate to privilege—

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

This is debate, not a point of order.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

This is not debate. These matters relate to privilege as well.

Mr. Chair, with all due respect, we have not dealt substantively and meaningfully with the issue at hand.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

What I can say on that is what both the clerk and I have indicated on the message, that the documents in evidence are on our public website and the link has been sent to members. You will have to determine whether that's adequate or not.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, on a point of order—

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Fragiskatos on a point of order, and then Ms. Dzerowicz.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, perhaps it could offer some guidance to our decision-making and I suggest very humbly that we look at whether there's a precedent for this particular situation.

I'll turn it over to Ms. Dzerowicz.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Ms. Dzerowicz.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Chair, my point of order is that I think Mr. Fraser made some very good points in terms of there being some information on a memory stick and some information that was part of the link. I wonder whether it's possible to perhaps have the clerk address that specifically. If it's appropriate to be able to do so, I'd love to hear from her in terms of whether there are indeed different bits of information in different places. I do think what my colleague Mr. Fraser has raised is a very important question of privilege for all of us.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

I have a note. I think I did say ”on the public website”. The documents are on Our Commons website through the link that the clerk has sent.

Ms. Dzerowicz, do you want to rephrase your question to the clerk? I didn't quite get the context.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Absolutely.

I'll probably just bring it to the point where we've raised a few things.

One is that I would like to know whether all of the information that was submitted, I believe the 5,600 pages, and the transmittal letters, as well as anything that was on memory sticks, is all provided to us as part of the information that was sent to us via a link within the last hour.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Madam Clerk, I'm not sure again whether we're putting you on the spot.

[Evelyn Lukyniuk]

Only certain documents get posted on our website. Items such as correspondence usually would just stay in the clerk's office, but they are available for the public to consult. Any confidential documents would be circulated to MPs during one session and not posted on the websites.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Specifically for the transmittal letters, because they are critical in terms of us understanding what was redacted, what was included, and why it was included or not included, would you be able to confirm whether the transmittal letters are actually part of the documents we have received?

[Evelyn Lukyniuk]

I do not know if they were included in that link.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Okay.