INDU Committee Meeting

The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology met at 3:31 p.m. this day, in Room 8-53, 131 Queen Street, the Chair, David Sweet, presiding.

On motion of John Carmichael, it was agreed, — That a proposed budget in the amount of $ 5,100, for the study of the subject Matter of Clauses 136 to 154 (Investment Canada Act) of Bill C-60, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 21, 2013 and other measures, be adopted.

Hélène LeBlanc moved, — That the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology issue a report to the House asking that the House grant the Standing Committee on Finance the power to divide Bill C-60 into 6 pieces of legislation, which could then be properly referred to the appropriate committees, as follows:

1. Clauses 1 – 135, and all un-named clauses in the list below, remain as Bill C-60;
2. Clauses 136 to 154, related to the Investment Canada Act; be allowed to be renamed as Bill C-62;
3. Clauses 161 to 166, related to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the temporary foreign worker program; be allowed to be renamed as Bill C-63;
4. Clauses 174 to 199, related to the proposed department of foreign affairs, trade and development act; be allowed to be renamed as Bill C-64;
5. Clauses 213 to 224, related to the National Capital Act and the Department of Canadian Heritage Act; be allowed to be renamed as Bill C-65;
6. Clauses 228 to 232, related to the Financial Administration Act and collective bargaining between crown corporations and their employees; be allowed to be renamed as Bill C-66;

that the subsequent bills be allowed to be referred to the following committees as being passed after second reading;

that the clauses listed in Section (b) of this report do form Bill C-62; that Bill C-62 be deemed read a first time and be printed; that the order for second reading of the said bill provide for the referral to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology;

that the clauses listed in Section (c) of this report do form Bill C-63; that Bill C-63 be deemed read a first time and be printed; that the order for second reading of the said bill provide for the referral to the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities;

that the clauses listed in Section (d) of this report do form Bill C-64; that Bill C-64 be deemed read a first time and be printed; that the order for second reading of the said bill provide for the referral to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development;

that the clauses listed in Section (e) of this report do form Bill C-65, that Bill C-65 be deemed read a first time and be printed, and that the order for second reading of the said bill provide for the referral to the Standing Committee on Heritage;

that the clauses mentioned in section; that the clauses listed in Section (f) of this report do form Bill C-66, that Bill C-66 be deemed read a first time and be printed, and that the order for the second reading of the said bill provide for the referral to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates;

that Bill C-60 retain the status on the order paper that it had prior to the adoption of this order; and

that bill C-60 be reprinted as amended and that the law clerk and the parliamentary counsel be authorized to make any technical changes or corrections as may be necessary to give effect to this motion.

RULING BY THE CHAIR

The Chair ruled that, although a committee is allowed to make certain “recommendations” to the House, the following parts of the motion go beyond the Committee's mandate:

1. Bill C-60 was not referred to this committee and certain issues raised in the motion fall outside the Committee's mandate as provided by Standing Order 108(2). As well, the motion suggests that the Committee call on the House to delegate a power to the Standing Committee on Finance. Committees are creatures of the House and may not go beyond the powers given to them by the House (House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Second Edition, 2009, p.973 and 1048). Only the House has the ability to “delegate certain powers to the committees” and refer to them any other issue for review (House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Second Edition, 2009, p.962 and 973). Therefore, it is not admissible for a committee to make recommendations regarding the powers of another committee.

2. It is also suggested that the Committee recommend to the House that the Finance Committee be given the power to divide Bill C-60 into several bills. It also recommends that these various bills be referred to various committees.

   Once again, such a recommendation goes well beyond the mandate of this Committee. It is up to the House to decide which committee a bill will be referred to. The House already decided to refer Bill C-60 to the Standing Committee on Finance. Even if the House agreed to give the Standing Committee on Finance the authority to divide the bill and the Committee exercised this authority, the resulting bills would remain before the Standing Committee on Finance. Therefore, this is clearly not an issue that our Committee is able to decide on.

For all these reasons, the Chair ruled the proposed motion inadmissible.

Paul Halucha made a statement and, with Matthew Dooley, answered questions.

At 5:32 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.