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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

Meeting No. 13

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs met at 11:05 a.m. this day, in Room 112-N, Centre Block, the Chair, Joe Preston, presiding.

Members of the Committee present: Harold Albrecht, Chris Charlton, Joe Comartin, Marc Garneau, Greg Kerr, Alexandrine Latendresse, Tom Lukiwski, Dave MacKenzie, Joe Preston, Scott Reid and John Williamson.

Acting Members present: David Christopherson for Philip Toone.

In attendance: Library of Parliament: Andre Barnes, Analyst ; Michel Bédard, Analyst . House of Commons: Wayne Cole, Legislative Clerk.

Witnesses: Privy Council Office: David Anderson, Senior Policy Advisor, Legislation and House Planning; Jean-François Morin, Senior Policy Advisor, Democratic Reform.

Pursuant to the Order of Reference of Thursday, November 3, 2011, the Committee resumed consideration of Bill C-20, An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867, the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act and the Canada Elections Act.

The Committee commenced its clause-by-clause study of the Bill.

Pursuant to Standing Order 75(1), consideration of the Preamble and Clause 1 was postponed.

The Chair called Clause 2.

On Clause 2,

Marc Garneau moved, — That Bill C-20, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing lines 4 and 5 on page 3 with the following:

“population of Canada by three hundred and eight, by dividing the population of each province by the quotient so obtained and rounding up any”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Marc Garneau and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 1; NAYS: 10.

Marc Garneau moved, — That Bill C-20, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing lines 7 to 17 on page 3 with the following:

“2. On any readjustment, the number of members for any province shall not be reduced by more than fifteen per cent below the representation to which that province was entitled at the preceding readjustment of the representation of that province.”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Marc Garneau and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 1; NAYS: 10.

Marc Garneau moved, — That Bill C-20, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing line 31 on page 3 with the following:

“population of Canada.”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Marc Garneau and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 1; NAYS: 10.

David Christopherson moved, — That Bill C-20, in Clause 2, be amended by adding after line 31 on page 3 the following:

“3.1 The proportion of members from the Province of Quebec in the House of Commons must remain unchanged from the representation that it had on November 27, 2006, when the motion was adopted in the House of Commons recognizing that the Québecois form a nation within a united Canada.”

The Chair ruled the proposed amendment inadmissible because it was beyond the scope of the Bill, as provided on page 766 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Second Edition.

Whereupon, David Christopherson appealed the decision of the Chair.

The question: "Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?" was put and the decision was sustained on the following recorded division: YEAS: Harold Albrecht, Marc Garneau, Greg Kerr, Tom Lukiwski, Dave MacKenzie, Scott Reid, John Williamson — 7; NAYS: Chris Charlton, David Christopherson, Joe Comartin, Alexandrine Latendresse — 4.

Marc Garneau moved, — That Bill C-20, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing line 41 on page 3 with the following:

“Canada, the population of each”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Marc Garneau and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 1; NAYS: 10.

Marc Garneau moved, — That Bill C-20, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing lines 1 to 5 on page 4 with the following:

“5. The number of members in excess of 308 must be deducted from the number of members assigned to the three provinces with the highest population growth. Each province’s portion of the deduction is equivalent to its percentage of the total seat count of those provinces.”

The Chair ruled the proposed amendment inadmissible because it was contrary to the principle of the Bill, as provided on page 766 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Second Edition.

Whereupon, Marc Garneau appealed the decision of the Chair.

The question: "Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?" was put and the decision was sustained on the following recorded division: YEAS: Harold Albrecht, Greg Kerr, Tom Lukiwski, Dave MacKenzie, Scott Reid, John Williamson — 6; NAYS: Chris Charlton, David Christopherson, Joe Comartin, Marc Garneau, Alexandrine Latendresse — 5.

Clause 2 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 6; NAYS: 5.

Clause 3 carried on division.

Clause 4 carried on division.

Clause 5 carried on division.

Clause 6 carried on division.

Clause 7 carried on division.

On Clause 8,

David Christopherson moved, — That Bill C-20, in Clause 8, be amended by replacing line 20 on page 6 with the following:

“at least 75 days before the day on which the”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of David Christopherson and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 4; NAYS: 6.

David Christopherson moved, — That Bill C-20, in Clause 8, be amended by replacing line 28 on page 6 with the following:

“secretary of the commission within 67 days after”

The question was put on the amendment of David Christopherson and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 4; NAYS: 6.

Clause 8 carried on division.

Clause 9 carried on division.

Clause 10 carried on division.

Clause 11 carried on division.

Clause 12 carried on division.

Clause 13 carried on division.

Clause 14 carried on division.

Clause 15 carried on division.

Clause 16 carried on division.

Clause 17 carried on division.

Clause 18 carried on division.

Clause 19 carried on division.

Clause 20 carried on division.

Clause 21 carried on division.

Clause 22 carried on division.

Clause 23 carried on division.

The Short Title carried on division.

On Preamble,

David Christopherson moved, — That Bill C-20, in the preamble, be amended

(a) by replacing, in the English version, line 10 on page 2 with the following:

“Whereas the Constitution Act, 1985”

(b) by adding after line 17 on page 2 the following:

“Whereas the House of Commons, on November 27, 2006, adopted a motion recognizing that “the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada”;

And whereas the proportion of members from the Province of Quebec in the House of Commons must therefore remain unchanged from the representation that it had when the motion was adopted on November 27, 2006;”

The Chair ruled the proposed amendment inadmissible because it proposed a substantive amendment to the preamble.

Whereupon, David Christopherson appealed the decision of the Chair.

The Preamble carried on division.

The Title carried on division.

The Bill carried on division.

ORDERED, — That the Chair report the Bill to the House.

At 11:37 a.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.

Michelle Tittley
Clerk of the Committee

2011-12-08 3:12 p.m.