SMND Committee Meeting

The Subcommittee on Neurological Disease of the Standing Committee on Health met at 5:42 p.m. this day, in Room 371, West Block, for the purpose of electing a Chair, pursuant to Standing Order 106(1).

On motion of Patrick Brown, it was agreed, — That Joy Smith be elected Chair of the Subcommittee.

The Clerk presided over the election of the Vice-Chair.

On motion of Patrick Brown, it was agreed, — That Kirsty Duncan be elected Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee.

Joy Smith took the Chair.

It was agreed, — That the Subcommittee 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.

It was agreed, — 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 two (2) members are present, including one member of the opposition.

It was agreed, — That only the Clerk of the Subcommittee be authorized to distribute documents, and that all documents which are to be distributed amongst the Subcommittee members must be in both language and that the Clerk shall advise all witnesses appearing before the Subcommittee of this requirement.

It was agreed, — That the witnesses from any organization shall be allowed ten (10) minutes to make their opening statement; that during the questioning of witnesses, there shall be allocated seven (7) minutes for the first round of questioning and thereafter five (5) minutes shall be allocated to each questioner in the second and subsequent rounds of questioning; that the order of questions for the first round of questioning shall be as follows: Liberal, Bloc, NDP, Conservative (CPC) and that questioning during subsequent rounds shall be in the following fashion: Liberal, CPC, Bloc, CPC, Liberal, NDP, CPC, CPC for so long as time allows.

That, during the appearance of a Minister, the Chair direct the first fifteen (15) minutes to members of the Official Opposition, ten (10) minutes to the Bloc Québécois, ten (10) minutes to the New Democratic Party and ten (10) minutes to the Conservative Party during the first round of questioning; and that thereafter five (5) minutes per party be allocated alterning between the opposition and government members, at the discretion of the Chair.

It was agreed, — That, each Subcommittee member in attendance shall be permitted to have one staff member attend at any in camera meetings; and that each party shall be permitted to have one party staff member attend in camera meetings.

It was agreed, — That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be kept in the Subcommittee Clerk’s office for consultation by members of the Subcommittee.

It was agreed, — That 48 hours’ notice be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the Subcommittee, unless the susbstantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration; and that the notice of motion be filed with the Clerk of the Subcommittee and distributed to members in both official languages; and that notice given on Friday after 3:30 p.m. be deemed to have been given on the following Monday.

It was agreed, — That Kirsty Duncan's proposal for the Subcommittee on Neurological Disease be distributed to members once it is available in both official languages.

It was agreed, — That the Subcommittee meet again on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 5:30 p.m..

At 6:02 p.m., the Subcommittee adjourned to the call of the Chair.