HAFF Committee Meeting

The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs met at 3:35 p.m. this day, in Room 112-N Centre Block, the Chair, Peter Adams, presiding.

By unanimous consent, Michel Guimond moved, — That Bill C-34, in Clause 4, be amended by adding after line 11 on page 8 the following:

 “ 72.061 The Prime Minister shall, within 15 days after the swearing in of Cabinet, establish ethical principles, rules and obligations for public office holders.

72.062 The Ethics Commissioner shall, on the first sitting day of a session of Parliament, provide a report on the ethical principles, rules and obligations established under section 72.061 to the Speaker of the House of Commons, who shall lay it before that House.

72.063 Any amendment to the ethical principles, rules and obligations established under section 72.061 shall immediately be reported by the Ethics Commissioner to the Speaker of the House of Commons, who shall lay the report of the Ethics Commissioner before that House.”

Debate arose thereon.

By unanimous consent, it was agreed, — That the amendment be amended by deleting the words “72.062 The Ethics Commissioner shall, on the first sitting day of a session of Parliament, provide a report on the ethical principles, rules and obligations established under section 72.061 to the Speaker of the House of Commons, who shall lay it before that House.”

Debate arose on the amendment of Michel Guimond, as amended.

By unanimous consent, the motion was allowed to stand.

Ken Epp moved, — That Bill C-34, in Clause 4, be amended by replacing lines 16 to 20 on page 8 with the following:

 “Prime Minister for public office holders; and”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Ken Epp and it was negatived.

Lorne Nystrom moved, — That Bill C-34, in Clause 4, be amended by replacing line 26 on page 8 with the following:

“of Commons or a Canadian citizen who has reasonable grounds to”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Lorne Nystrom and it was negatived.

Lorne Nystrom moved, — That Bill C-34, in Clause 4, be amended by replacing line 7 on page 9 with the following:

“request, provide the Prime Minister and the leaders of all political parties recognized in the House of Commons with a”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Lorne Nystrom and it was negatived.

Ken Epp moved, — That Bill C-34, in Clause 4, be amended by deleting lines 18 to 20 on page 9.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Ken Epp and it was negatived.

By unanimous consent, Gerald Keddy moved, — That Bill C-34, in Clause 4, be amended by replacing lines 22 and 23 on page 5 with the following:

“paid a remuneration comparable to that paid to the Information Commissioner of Canada and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Gerald Keddy and it was negatived.

The debate continued.

By unanimous consent, it was agreed, — That the amendment be amended to read as follows:“ 72.061 The Prime Minister shall establish ethical principles, rules and obligations for public office holders. 72.062 The ethical principles, rules and obligations shall be laid before each House of Parliament within 30 days after the Prime Minister assumes office, and any subsequent changes to those ethical principles, rules and obligations shall be laid before the House within 15 sitting days after they are established.”

The question was put on the amendment of Michel Guimond, as amended, and it was agreed to.

Ken Epp moved, — That Bill C-34, in Clause 4, be amended by adding after line 36 on page 11 the following:

“ 72.14 For greater certainty, where any of the provisions of any code of conduct or rules regarding public office holders that have been developed or may be developed by the Prime Minister or the Government of Canada in the future are in conflict with this Act, this Act shall prevail.”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Ken Epp and it was negatived.

Clause 4, as amended, carried.

Clauses 5 and 6 carried severally.

Clause 7 carried.

Clauses 8 to 42 inclusive carried severally.

The title carried.

The question: "Shall the Bill carry?" was put and was agreed to on the following recorded division: YEAS: Rodger Cuzner, Joe Jordan, Carolyn Parrish, Jacques Saada, Benoît Sauvageau, Guy St-Julien — 6; NAYS: Ken Epp, Gerald Keddy, Lorne Nystrom — 3.

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

At 5:30 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.