FAAE Committee Meeting

The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development met at 3:28 p.m. this day, in Room 308, West Block, for the purpose of electing a Chair, pursuant to Standing Order 106(1).

On motion of James Lunney, it was agreed, — That Kevin Sorenson be elected Chair of the Committee.

At 3:29 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 3:31 p.m., the sitting resumed.

The Clerk of the Committee presided over the election of the Vice-Chairs.

On motion of Peter Goldring, it was agreed, — That Bernard Patry be elected First Vice-Chair of the Committee.

On motion of Johanne Deschamps, it was agreed, — That Paul Crête be elected Second Vice-Chair of the Committee.

Kevin Sorenson took the Chair.

Peter Goldring moved, — That the Chair, the two Vice-Chairs, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Member from the New Democratic Party do compose the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure.

Debate arose thereon.

Paul Dewar moved, — That the motion be amended by deleting the words “the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs”.

Debate arose thereon.

Bernard Patry moved, — That the amendment be amended by replacing the words “the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs” with the words “another government member”.

Debate arose thereon.

After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Bernard Patry and it was agreed to.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Paul Dewar, as amended, and it was agreed to.

After debate, the question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That the Chair, the two Vice-Chairs, another government member and the Member from the New Democratic Party do compose the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure.

On motion of Paul Dewar, it was agreed, — That the Committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the Chair, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.

Jim Abbott moved, — That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence printed when a quorum is not present, provided that at least 3 members are present, including a member of the opposition, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

Paul Crête moved, — That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after “member of the opposition” .

Debate arose thereon.

The question was put on the amendment of Paul Crête and it was negatived.

Deepak Obhrai moved, — That the motion be amended by adding after the words “of the opposition” the following: “and a Member from the Government”.

Debate arose thereon.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Deepak Obhrai and it was agreed to.

After debate, the question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence printed when a quorum is not present, provided that at least 3 members are present, including a member of the opposition and a member of the government, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

Paul Dewar moved, — That witnesses be given ten (10) minutes for their opening statement; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated ten (10) minutes for the first questioner of each party when a Minister appears before the Committee; and five (5) minutes for the other meetings; and that thereafter five (5) minutes be allocated to each subsequent questioner alternating between Government and Opposition parties.

Debate arose thereon.

James Lunney moved, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words “five (5) minutes” after the words “before the Committee and”, with the words “seven (7) minutes”.

Debate arose thereon.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of James Lunney and it was agreed to.

After debate, the question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That witnesses be given ten (10) minutes for their opening statement; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated ten (10) minutes for the first questioner of each party when a Minister appears before the Committee and seven (7) minutes for the other meetings; and that thereafter five (5) minutes be allocated to each subsequent questioner alternating between Government and Opposition parties.

On motion of Jim Abbott, it was agreed, — That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnessses not exceeding two (2) representative per organization; provided that, in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.

On motion of Bernard Patry, it was agreed, — That the Committee be authorized to purchase documents for the use of the Committee.

On motion of Lois Brown, it was agreed, — That the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the Committee and its Subcommittees.

On motion of James Lunney, it was agreed, — That, unless otherwise ordered, each Committee member be allowed to have on staff at in camera meetings and that one additional person from each party be allowed to be present.

On motion of Bernard Patry, it was agreed, — That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be kept in the Committee Clerk’s office for consultation by members of the Committee.

On motion of Bernard Patry, it was agreed, — That the Committee be authorized to purchase gifts to be presented to foreign hosts and visiting delegations.

Glen Douglas Pearson moved, — That forty-eight [48] hours’ notice be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the Committee, unless the susbstantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration; and that the notice of motion be filed with the Clerk of the Committee and distributed to members in both official languages.

Debate arose thereon.

Peter Goldring moved, — That the motion be amended by deleting the words “unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration”.

Debate arose thereon.

After debate, by unanimous consent, the amendment was withdrawn.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

On motion of Bernard Patry, it was agreed, — That, for motions requiring forty-eight (48) hours’ notice, the Chair be authorized to defer consideration until 15 minutes prior to the adjournment time for the meeting as indicated in the notice of the meeting.

On motion of James Lunney, it was agreed, — That, pursuant to Standing Orders 108(1) and 108(2), a Subcommittee on International Human Rights to be chaired by a member elected by the Subcommittee, be established to inquire into matters relating to the promotion of respect for international human rights, as may be referred to it by the Committee; that the subcommittee be composed of seven (7) members or associate members of which three (3) shall be government members and two (2) shall be Liberal members, one shall be from the Bloc Québécois and one from the New Democratic Party, to be named following the usual consultations with the Whips; and that the Subcommittee be empowered to send for persons, papers and records, to receive evidence, to sit during a time when the Committee is not sitting in Ottawa, to sit when the Committee is sitting outside Parliamentary Precinct and to sit during periods when the House stands adjourned and the Chair of the Subcommittee meet with the Steering Committee of the Foreign Affairs Committee at their mutual discretion.

It was agreed, — That a meeting of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be held on Wednesday February 4, 2009 between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. instead of a meeting of the Standing Committee.

At 5:00 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.