PROC Committee Meeting

The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs met in camera at 11:02 a.m. this day, in Room 253-D, Centre Block, the Chair, Joe Preston, presiding.

It was agreed, — That the Second Report from the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure, which read as follows, be concurred in:

That the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Chief Electoral Officer each be invited to appear for one hour in relation to the Main Estimates 2014-15.

That the Committee devote at least one meeting at the end of the month of May 2014 to commence its study of Motions M-431 (Election of Committee Chairs) and M-489 (Election of the Speaker) by inviting the sponsors of these motions to appear before the Committee for one hour each.

That, pursuant to Standing Order 97.1(1) and given the workload of the past weeks and the Committee being unable to give the Bill the consideration it requires, the Committee request an extension of thirty sitting days to consider Bill C-518, An Act to amend the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act (withdrawal allowance).

That the Committee devote two (2) meetings in June 2014 for its study of the Question of Privilege related to Elections Canada and the Member for Selkirk-Interlake.

That the Committee take time, at its meeting of Tuesday, May 13, 2014, to consider the documents received by House of Commons Administration in relation to the order adopted by the Committee on Tuesday, May 6, 2014.

It was agreed, — That the Committee empower the Clerk of the Committee to investigate the leak of the confidential documents submitted by the House of Commons Administration on Monday, May 12, 2014, with the intent of discovering who leaked those documents; that the Clerk of the Committee also suggest recommendations on how to avoid leaks in the future; and that the Committee condemn in the strongest possible terms the leak of these confidential documents.

At 12:06 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:07 p.m., the sitting resumed in public.

David Christopherson moved, — That, in conjunction with the Order of Reference from the House of Commons of Thursday, March 27, 2014, the Committee also conduct a study into the use of the Conservative Party of Canada Constituent Information Management System (CIMS) database as a voter suppression tool in the 2011 election, and that the Prime Minister be invited to appear before the Committee to answer questions related to the usages of the CIMS database, and that in preparation for these hearings the Conservative Party of Canada provide to the Committee a list of all attempts to access the CIMS database to download exclusive lists of non-conservatives supporters in the period of April 15, 2011 to May 2, 2011.

RULING BY THE CHAIR

The Chair ruled the motion inadmissible as it exceeded the mandate of the Committee.

Whereupon, David Christopherson appealed the decision of the Chair.

The question: "Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?" was put and the decision was sustained on the following recorded division: YEAS: Brad Butt, Tom Lukiwski, Ted Opitz, Blake Richards, Chris Warkentin — 5; NAYS: David Christopherson, Peter Julian, Alexandrine Latendresse — 3.

At 12:11 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.