[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]
Tuesday, April 22, 1997
.1031 
[English]
The Chairman (Mr. François Langlois (Bellechasse, BQ)): Order.
[Translation]
We are here to study a draft report following discussions we had during our informal lunch with Mr. Marleau, the Clerk of the House, last Thursday, so that we could clearly establish this particular piece of work as having been done during this Parliament, which obviously is coming to a close. By so doing, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs will be able to adopt the report right away and table it in the House tomorrow, which was the only remaining possibility, given the schedule. So that is the purpose of this meeting.
You have the draft report in front of you, and if you would like to add, delete or strike anything out, please go ahead. It is your report and mine too.
[English]
Mr. Ray Speaker (Lethbridge, Ref.): Mr. Chairman, further to our discussion, would there be a point if we said - I don't know whether the words would fit - the contents of the report will be maintained in confidence until...
Well, this is not really this year. No, that's a separate item. Okay.
[Translation]
The Chairman: We will consider the confidentiality of the answers immediately after this question.
[English]
Mr. Ray Speaker: From my perspective the report is fine.
Ms Marlene Catterall (Ottawa West, Lib.): I'm also concerned about referring the report to the clerk and asking him to take action on it when we have no idea if 10 members, 100 members, or 295 members will respond. I would not want the clerk to be taking an action based on responses from 20 members. I don't quite know how to cover that in this recommendation.
Mr. James Robertson (Committee Researcher): We could just say...the third recommendation could be ``A copy of the questionnaire summary and results should be made available to the Clerk of the House when they are available''. Then he would decide what weight, if any, to attach to it.
The Chairman: Is that agreeable to you?
Ms Marlene Catterall: Yes, if it's in line with the concerns Mr. Speaker has raised that it should be clear that it would be on a confidential basis.
[Translation]
The Chairman: Immediately after that, Ms Catterall?
Ms Marlene Catterall: In recommendation no. 3.
[English]
Mr. James Robertson: So ``when they are available on a confidential basis''. I think that's implicit -
The Clerk of the Committee: ``When they are available on a confidential basis to the Clerk of the House.''
Mr. James Robertson: Yes.
Mr. Ray Speaker: Right.
Mr. James Robertson: The only people who would get it would be Marie and her secretary and myself and anyone else I need to assist me. We'll just prepare it, and the only person we will give it to will be the Clerk of the House. I think if we indicate it will be on a confidential basis there won't be any problem there. Hopefully that will address your concern.
.1035
Mr. Ray Speaker: You can see the implications.
Mr. James Robertson: Definitely.
Mr. Ray Speaker: What my members are saying to me is that maybe we'll give them to you...saying to me, we'll all give them to you and you can hold them until such time as we get further into the election period and then release them. They are really worried. They just don't want... As Reformers we come with a certain perspective. There are some things they want to look at that they think should be changed, and to get that into the election debate -
Ms Marlene Catterall: We don't want the public to know it right now, is that it, Ray?
Mr. Ray Speaker: No, they just don't want it to be part of a debate from here.
Mr. James Robertson: I don't expect the results will be finalized until near the end of the campaign period. I don't expect, based on our summary for members' travel, that we will identify by party or any other way, in any summary, who said what. It would all be on a collective basis.
Ms Marlene Catterall: But I do think you need to address how you're going to detach the names from the questionnaire results - that's part of any good survey - and what identifying factors you want for an analysis of the questionnaire. We didn't do that before we put this questionnaire out.
Relevant factors are certainly the distance of the constituency from Ottawa. Second, I'd be interested to know if there's a difference in viewpoints between first-time members of Parliament and members who have been here longer...maybe first term, two terms or more. I'd be interested in knowing if there's a difference between male and female respondents.
Mr. James Robertson: Rural and urban.
Ms Marlene Catterall: Yes, rural and urban.
Mr. Ray Speaker: Mr. Chairman, I have a person waiting. I only have a few minutes. If I can go up and do that, I'll come back.
I would agree with what was stated here just a few moments ago. If we could have that kind of confidentiality and non-identification until this is done during the latter part of the writ period, in preparation for the next House, that would be satisfactory.
Mr. James Robertson: I don't expect that we will divide the answers on the basis of party affiliation. I don't see it at this time. If that does become necessary, I will undertake not to do it until after the election is held.
Ms Marlene Catterall: What you have to do, it seems to me, is as soon as the questionnaires arrive, attach any characteristics to the questionnaires that you want to attach and remove the names.
Mr. James Robertson: Okay. I see your point.
Ms Marlene Catterall: That's the only way I know of absolutely -
Mr. James Robertson: Yes.
Ms Marlene Catterall: I think it's important that we consider what characteristics might be important. Maybe it's not important to know the results by party, but I think it is important to know how representative overall the responses are by party. So you can wait for those?
Mr. James Robertson: Yes.
Ms Marlene Catterall: I frankly think you need to do an analysis by party to see if there's a significant difference. If one party were represented three times...another party in the responses, then you would have to wait for that. You can only do that if you know whether there is or isn't a difference between the parties in the type of response.
Mr. James Robertson: Okay. We'll work that out.
Ms Marlene Catterall: Are there other characteristics? There is size of constituency, by population, and by geography. I think it has to be the size of the present constituency, because after the election they're more or less evened out because of the redistribution.
.1040
[Translation]
The Chairman: If we immediately destroyed the part of the form where the member's name is, which exists only for compilation purposes, we could reassure those who might fear that the questionnaire might circulate with their name on it. The questionnaire could be kept for analysis and compilation purposes. Could that be done easily enough?
Ms Marlene Catterall: That is why it is important to identify the important characteristics when the answers are analyzed.
The Chairman: You are quite right.
[English]
Mr. James Robertson: There are some questions at the end about characteristics of the constituency, and knowing the member, we can determine things such as distance of the constituency from Ottawa. We can make those indications on the completed form, take off the name, and then, other than for purposes of deciding whether one party is overly represented or not, which can be done at the end, we can make the necessary compilation of the results. The results are more important from a global perspective, subject to verifying that they are representative, than they are for what individual members have to say.
I think these are excellent ideas.
Ms Marlene Catterall: You may have others as well.
Mr. James Robertson: Yes. We'll certainly make sure we do it along those lines, so we have the necessary information without unnecessary identifications.
[Translation]
The Chairman: Is that all right, Ms Catterall?
Ms Marlene Catterall: Yes.
The Chairman: Since Mr. Speaker has already said that he agreed with the contents of the amended report and a number of additions, would it be all right with you, Ms Catterall, if we adopted the report?
Ms Marlene Catterall: Yes.
The Chairman: Since we are supposed to report back with a consensus, I too am part of the consensus. So I will report back to the committee right away, presenting the amended report to it.
Can the corrections be made in time for the 11:00 meeting?
Ms Marlene Catterall: Yes.
The Chairman: Is there anything else? No?
The meeting is adjourned to the call of the chair. Thank you.