TRAN Committee Meeting

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

Meeting No. 1

Tuesday, June 11, 2002

The Standing Committee on Transport met at 3:30 p.m. this day, in Room 536, Wellington Building.

Member(s) of the Committee present: Reg Alcock, Rex Barnes, Jim Gouk, André Harvey, Ovid Jackson, Mario Laframboise, James Moore, Marcel Proulx, Alex Shepherd, Raymond Simard, Paul Szabo.

Acting Member(s) present: Peter Adams for Joe Comuzzi.

In attendance: From the Library of Parliament: John Christopher.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(1) and (2), election of a Chair and Vice-Chairs.

The Clerk of the Committee presided over the election of the Chair.

On motion of James Moore, it was agreed, -That Ovid Jackson do take the Chair of this Committee.

On motion of James Moore, it was agreed, -That Marcel Proulx be elected Vice-Chair of the Committee.

On motion of Paul Szabo, it was agreed, -That James Moore be elected Vice-Chair of the Committee.

On motion of Paul Szabo, it was agreed that the following motions be adopted:

- That the Committee retain the services of one or more Research Officers from the Library of Parliament, as needed, to assist the Committee in its work at the discretion of the Chair.

- That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings and to receive and publish evidence when a quorum is not present, provided that at least (3) members are present, including (1) member of the opposition.

- That witnesses be given (10) minutes for their opening statement and, that during the questioning of witnesses, they be allocated (10) minutes for the first question and answer of each party and that thereafter, (5) minutes be allocated to each subsequent questioner, at the discretion of the Chair.

- That a notice of 48 hours submitted to the Clerk of the Committee, be required before any substantive motion may be presented to the Committee.

- That, as established by the Board of Internal Economy and if requested, reasonable travelling, accommodation, and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses who are invited to appear before the Committee up to a maximum of 2 representatives for any organization.

- That, pursuant to Standing Order 111(4), whenever an Order in council for appointment or a certificate of nomination for appointment is referred to the Committee, the Clerk shall obtain and circulate to each member of the Committee a copy of the resume of each appointee.

- That the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to distribute documents only when they exist in both official languages.

- That the Committee authorize the Chair, from time to time, as the need arises, to take, in conjunction with the Clerk of the Committee the appropriate measures to provide lunches for the Committee and its Sub-committees, for working purposes, and that the cost of these lunches be charged to the budget of the Committee.

- That one (1) transcript of all in camera meetings be produced and kept in the Committee Clerk's office for consultation.

- That the Committee meet on Tuesdays 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and on Thursdays 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (Pursuant to the room assignment system for Committees) (Transport Committee)

- That the evidence received by the Standing Committee on Transport and Government Operations in relation to its study on Hours Of Services during this session, be deemed adduced by the Standing Committee in the current session.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee proceeded, in camera, to the consideration of the draft report of Truckers Hours of Service, safety concerns and transborder/border crossing issues, and their impact on the Canadian trucking industry.

On motion of Paul Szabo, it was agreed that the following motions be adopted:

- That the draft Report, as amended, be adopted as the Committee’s eleventh Report to the House and that the Chair be instructed to present it to the House.

- That, pursuant to Standing Orders 109, the Committee request that the Government table a comprehensive response to the Report within one hundred and fifty (150) days.

- That the Chair, in conjunction with the researchers and clerk, write and publish a press release announcing the findings of the Committee’s report on hours of service.

- That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(1)(a), the Committee authorizes the printing of the dissenting opinions or supplementary opinions of opposition parties as an appendix to this report immediately after the signature of the chair; that the dissenting opinions or supplementary opinions be limited to not more than 2 pages; and that the dissenting opinions or supplementary opinions be delivered to the clerk of the Committee not later than 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 12, 2002.

Pursuant to the Forty-eight hours notice motion adopted on Wednesday, February 21, 2001, Rex Barnes gave notice of the following motion:

- That, in accordance with Standing Order 108, the committee examine the latest Annual Report of Report of VIA Rail Canada Inc., tabled in the House on April 25, 2002, and request the appearance of Mr. Jean Pelletier, Chairman of the Board and Mr. Marc LeFrançois, President and Chief Executive Officer to answer questions concerning the company’s advertising and sponsorship program.  

After debate, the motion was allowed to stand up to the completion of the RCMP investigation.

At 4:15 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.

Richard Dupuis

Clerk(s) of the Committee