FAIT Committee Meeting
Notices of Meeting include information about the subject matter to be examined by the committee and date, time and place of the meeting, as well as a list of any witnesses scheduled to appear. The Evidence is the edited and revised transcript of what is said before a committee. The Minutes of Proceedings are the official record of the business conducted by the committee at a sitting.
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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
Meeting No. 73
Thursday, October 22, 1998
The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade met in camera at 9:40 a.m. this day, in Room 536, Wellington Building, the Chair, Bill Graham, presiding.
Members of the Committee present: Sarkis Assadourian, Jean Augustine, Colleen Beaumier, John Cannis, Maud Debien, Bill Graham, Bernard Patry, Charlie Penson, Jerry Pickard, Julian Reed, Benoît Sauvageau.
Acting Members present: Keith Martin for Bob Mills.
In attendance: From the Library of Parliament: Gerald Schmitz.
The Committee proceeded to examine its future business.
It was agreed, --That the Chair, the Vice-Chairs, the Parliamentary Secretaries to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister for International Trade, and a representative of each of the Bloc Quebecois, the New Democratic Party and the Progressive Conservative Party do compose the Sub-Committee on Agenda and Procedure.
The Chair presented the Sixth Report of the Sub-committee on agenda and procedure which is as follows:
Your Sub-Committee met on Tuesday, October 20th, 1998 to consider the future business of the Committee and agreed to make the following recommendations:
It was agreed, --That in relation to its study of Canada's policy on nuclear non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament, the Committee plan to present its report to the House of Commons by the end of November.
It was agreed, --That the evolving situation in India and Pakistan concerning nuclear non-proliferation be the subject of continuing follow-up by the Committee.
It was agreed, --That in relation to its study of Bill C-35, An Act to amend the Special Import Measures Act and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act, the Committee will hear witnesses who have requested an appearance, as well as the Parliamentary Secretary for Finance, Finance Department officials and a trade lawyer on Thursday, October 29, 1998.
It was agreed, --That the Committee convene a briefing with the participants of the IN COMMON Mission to South-East Asia organized by the Canadian Council on International Cooperation; and that further, the Committee invite the Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) to brief the Committee on South-East Asia and specifically the persecution of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia.
It was agreed, --That the Committee convene a briefing with a delegation, led by Raymonde Folco, M.P., that observed recent elections in Chiapas.
It was agreed, --That the Committee invite Representative Benjamin Gilman, Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on International Relations to meet with the Committee to discuss, among other items to be proposed by the Chair, in consultation with the Committee, the international drug trade, Cuba and the North-American Community.
It was agreed, --That the Committee invite the Minister of Foreign Affairs to appear before the Committee to discuss Canada's role at the upcoming APEC Summit in Malaysia, and that the Parliamentary Secretary discuss with the Minister the possibility of his appearing prior to the Summit.
It was agreed, --That the Committee, in consultation with other Committees, convene hearings on the forthcoming agenda of the World Trade Organization (WTO), including the built-in agenda on agriculture and services issues and the possible launch of a general "millenium round" toward the end of 1999 with particular bearing on the subjects of culture and telecommunications and possible follow-up from the MAI in terms of trade-related investment measures (TRIMS).
It was agreed, --That the Committee convene a follow-up hearing on the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA).
It was agreed, --That the Sub-Committee on International Trade, Trade Disputes and Investment be asked to convene a study of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
Ordered, --That the research staff of the Committee prepare a proposal for a study over the long term, on Canada's foreign policy in South-Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Transcaucuses for Committee study beginning in the spring of 1999.
It was agreed, --That the Committee convene a hearing on the OECD convention on anti-corruption.
Ordered, --That the research staff of the Committee prepare a proposal for a limited number of hearings by the Committee, in consultation with the Standing Committee on Finance, on the International Financial Institutions (IFIs), in light of the current global economic crisis, in preparation for the next G-8 Summit in 1999.
It was agreed, --That the Committee convene a briefing from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on the former Yugoslavia and the Canadian mission to Kosovo.
It was agreed, --That the Committee reserve a half hour per week at the end of a Committee hearing, to examine current issues.
It was agreed, --That the Committee convene a briefing from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on tensions between Turkey and Syria in regard to the Kurdish Community.
It was agreed that the Committee convene a hearing on or around December 10, 1998 to mark the Fiftieth Anniversary of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.
It was agreed, --That the cost of a working luncheon convened on September 29, 1998 with the Mexican Federal Chief Coordinator for Chiapas, Emilio Rabasa, be charged to the Committee's hospitality budget.
After debate it was agreed, --That the report be concurred in.
It was agreed, --That the Chair on behalf of the Committee, write a letter to the Embassy of Russia in Canada regarding the case of Alexander Nikitin.
At 10:35 a.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.
Janice Hilchie
Clerk(s) of the Committee