Evidence of meeting #1 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you very much, Mr. Albas.
Mr. Barsalou‑Duval, do you want to add anything?
Bloc
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
Yes, Mr. Chair.
I just want to say that I did not receive advance notice of the motion on the table right now, since the committee had not yet been formed. If I had received advance notice and had been able to look at it, I might have been able to make a judgment on what it contains, but I'm not prepared to do that now.
I understand my colleague's concern, but I don't think this is a good time to go to a vote. I therefore move that the motion simply be introduced. That way, we'll have a chance to come back to it a little later and make an informed decision when we have all the facts.
Liberal
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
In that case, Mr. Chair, I move that you adjourn the debate.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you, Mr. Lauzon.
We have a motion to adjourn debate on this.
(Motion agreed to: yeas 5; nays 4)
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Colleagues, if you're in favour, I'd like to discuss Bill C-5 to make sure we're all on the same page over the next couple of days.
I see your hand is already up high, Mr. Barsalou-Duval.
Bloc
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
I didn't mean to interrupt you, Mr. Chair, but I was wondering whether we would have time to introduce other motions after discussing Bill C‑5.
There aren't necessarily any motions that we need to debate or take a position on right away, but I'd like to have a chance to give notice of some motions so that everyone around the table knows what topics I'd like the committee to address.
Can I do that now, or do I have to wait until the end of the debate on Bill C‑5?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you.
I think that our priority should be studying Bill C‑5. If there is any time left, we can discuss other topics. Tomorrow or Wednesday, we can see what needs to be done.
I just want to make sure everybody is on the same page and we know exactly what to expect.
On that, I open the floor to discussions or comments on this.
Mr. Lawrence, go ahead.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Clarke, ON
Thank you.
I think everyone around this table would agree that Bill C-5 will be an important piece of legislation, and I look forward to working productively on it.
On that note, my starting position is that I believe the committee should act as if the Bloc amendment is going to be accepted by the House. If it's not accepted by the House, all that would mean is that there would be less committee debate.
I think it's incumbent on us to give the clerks the time, in accordance with the Bloc amendment. There are going to be about 12 hours or so of testimony, and we will want to give those clerks, starting tomorrow—I feel sorry for the clerks—the maximum amount of time to contact these individuals so that we can get as many of those witnesses as we possibly can. That would be where I would propose to start our discussion.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you, Mr. Lawrence.
This is just a point of clarification for the clerk. The Bloc motion states that it would be from 10 a.m. until midnight tomorrow. Is that on top of Wednesday, or would that be replacing Wednesday's time?
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Okay.
Based on your assessment, because this would definitely fall on your shoulders, Mr. Clerk, would we be able to secure the witnesses by tomorrow at 10 a.m.?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
You can do your very best, but there's no guarantee. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Clerk.
Are there any other questions or comments, colleagues, or are we all good to go?
Do you want to suspend for a couple minutes to figure out what this all means?
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
I call this meeting back to order.
Colleagues, as you can see, the bells are ringing. Do I have unanimous consent to continue for a couple minutes until we conclude the business of Bill C-5?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
We have unanimous consent.
Mr. Albas, you have a motion you want to propose to the committee members.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC
Yes. Given the uncertainty, in that the House has yet to give direction to this committee, I think that as an abundance of caution, I move as follows: “That the committee direct all parties to submit to the clerk, by 1 p.m. today, their intended witnesses for Bill C-5; that the chair and the clerk be tasked with establishing the most efficient schedule for tomorrow; and that the chair and clerk report back when they have a work plan.”
That last part would be based on what the House of Commons decides today.
Liberal
Bloc
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
I have just one question, Mr. Chair.
I'm all for getting our witness list in by one o'clock today, or as soon as possible, so that the clerks can get to work. Do we have an idea of how many witnesses the committee would have time to hear from if the amendment to the government's motion were adopted?
The reason I ask is that I want to get a sense of how many names we need to submit. Would it be 5, 10, 15 or 20 names? Obviously, some witnesses are deemed more appropriate than others. Some witnesses are more important to us, and we don't want to be prevented from hearing from them because other names have been submitted.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
That's a good question, Mr. Barsalou‑Duval.
In the best-case scenario, we should submit the names of 36 witnesses, three times twelve. However, when we hear from the minister, he is usually the only witness to appear. In my opinion, between 28 and 36 names should be submitted, at most. If we can invite three for each block, that would be great.
Mr. Albas.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC
It might behoove everyone to put forward their witnesses ranked from the number one choice and all the way down, so that the clerk can make quick decisions.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Does that work for everybody? Are we all in agreement?
(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Mr. Clerk, is there anything else you need to be able to move forward with this?
If there's nothing else, colleagues, we have a vote now, so I will adjourn the meeting and look forward to possibly seeing you all here again tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., and if not, at 3:30 p.m.
Thank you, everyone.
This meeting is adjourned.