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Minutes of Proceedings

42nd Parliament, 1st Session
Meeting No. 99
Monday, April 16, 2018, 3:37 p.m. to 4:48 p.m.
Presiding
Sonia Sidhu, Acting Chair (Liberal)

House of Commons
• Philippe Méla, Legislative Clerk
 
Library of Parliament
• Karin Phillips, Analyst
• Marlisa Tiedemann, Analyst

The Clerk informed the Committee of the unavoidable absence of the Chair and Vice-Chairs.

Thereupon, Sonia Sidhu was designated by the Chair to be Acting Chair of the Committee for the meeting.

The Committee proceeded to the consideration of matters related to Committee business.

Motion

John Oliver moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee undertake a study on the barriers to access to treatment and drugs for Canadians affected by rare diseases and disorders in order to develop recommendations on actions that the federal government can take, in partnership with the provinces and territories, to remove these barriers; that the Committee report its findings and recommendations to the House no later than December 31, 2018; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the Committee request that the Government table a comprehensive response to the report.

On motion of Ben Lobb, it was agreed, — That consideration of the motion be postponed until Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

Motion

Ron McKinnon moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee undertake a study on LGBTQ2 health in Canada in order to develop recommendations on actions that the federal government can take, in partnership with the provinces and territories, and that the Committee report its findings and recommendations to the House, and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the Committee request that the Government table a comprehensive response to the report.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Ramez Ayoub, Doug Eyolfson, Peter Fragiskatos, Ron McKinnon, John Oliver, Tracey Ramsey, Len Webber — 7;

NAYS: — 0.

Motion

Doug Eyolfson moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee undertake a study on the impacts of methamphetamine abuse in Canada in order to develop recommendations on actions that the federal government can take, in partnership with the provinces and territories, to mitigate these impacts; that the Committee report its findings and recommendations to the House no later than December 2018; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the Committee request that the Government table a comprehensive response to the report.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Ramez Ayoub, Doug Eyolfson, Peter Fragiskatos, Ron McKinnon, John Oliver, Tracey Ramsey — 6;

NAYS: — 0.

Department of Health
• Greg Carreau, Director, Water and Air Quality Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch
• David Morin, Director General, Safe Environments Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch
Pursuant to the Order of Reference of Monday, October 30, 2017, the Committee resumed consideration of Bill C-326, An Act to amend the Department of Health Act (drinking water guidelines).

The Committee commenced its clause-by-clause study of the Bill.

Pursuant to Standing Order 75(1), consideration of the Preamble was postponed.

The Chair called Clause 1.

On Clause 1,

John Oliver moved, — That Bill C-326, in Clause 1, be amended by replacing line 20 on page 1 to line 17 on page 2 with the following:

“5.1 (1) The Minister shall identify any foreign government or international agency that, in the Minister’s opinion, has standards or guidelines respecting the quality of drinking water that should be compared to the guidelines respecting the quality of drinking water that are being developed in Canada.

(2) The Minister shall review the standards or guidelines respecting the quality of drinking water established by any foreign government or international agency identified under subsection (1) to determine which aspects of those standards or guidelines shall be compared to the guidelines respecting the quality of drinking water that are being developed in Canada. The Minister shall then perform the appropriate comparison.

(3) The Minister shall, during each fiscal year after the fiscal year in which this section comes into force, publish the results of the comparison.”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of John Oliver and it was agreed to.

Clause 1, as amended, carried.

On new Clause 2,

John Oliver moved, — That Bill C-326 be amended by adding after line 17 on page 2 the following new clause:

“2 This Act comes into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of John Oliver and it was agreed to.

On Preamble,

John Oliver moved, — That Bill C-326, in the preamble, be amended by deleting lines 6 to 10 on page 1.

The Chair ruled the proposed amendment inadmissible because the amendment seeks to make a substantive modification by removing elements to the preamble. As House of Commons Procedure and Practice, third edition, states on page 774: “In the case of a bill that has been referred to committee after second reading, a substantive amendment to the preamble is admissible only if it is rendered necessary by amendments made to the bill.” In the opinion of the Chair, the proposed amendment is substantive and is therefore inadmissible.

The Preamble carried.

The Title carried.

The Bill, as amended, carried.

ORDERED, — That the Chair report the Bill, as amended, to the House.

ORDERED, — That Bill C-326, as amended, be reprinted for the use of the House at report stage.

At 4:09 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:12 p.m., the sitting resumed in camera.

The Committee resumed consideration of matters related to Committee business.

It was agreed, — That the proposed budget in the amount of $14,500.00, for the study of Bill S-228, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (prohibiting food and beverage marketing directed at children), be adopted.

It was agreed, — That, notwithstanding the routine motion on proposed amendments to bills adopted by the Committee on Monday, May 2, 2016, the deadline for submitting to the Clerk proposed amendments to Bill S-228, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (prohibiting food and beverage marketing directed at children), be Tuesday, April 24, 2018, at noon, for all Members.

ORDERED, — That, in the context of its study of the development of a national pharmacare program, the clerk distribute forthwith to all committee members copies of the final version of the report, which shall remain confidential until the report is presented to the House of Commons.

It was agreed, — That the work plan prepared by the analysts in relation to the study of pre-mixed drinks combining high alcohol, caffeine, and sugar content be adopted.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motions adopted by the Committee on Monday, March 7, 2016, and on Thursday, May 4, 2017, the Committee resumed its study of antimicrobial resistance.

It was agreed, — That the draft report, as amended, be adopted.

It was agreed, — That the report be entitled: "A Study on the Status of Antimicrobial Resistance in Canada and Related Recommendations".

It was agreed, — That the Chair, Clerk and analysts be authorized to make such grammatical and editorial changes as may be necessary without changing the substance of the report.

It was agreed, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the Committee request that the Government table a comprehensive response to the report.

It was agreed, — That dissenting or supplementary opinions be in Calibri 12 point font, left aligned, with the title in Cambria 14 point font, and be submitted electronically, in both official languages, to the Clerk of the Committee, no later than Monday, April 23, 2018 at 4:00 p.m.

ORDERED, — That the analysts and Clerk of the Committee, in consultation with the Chair, prepare a news release for publication on the Committee's website and for distribution upon presentation of the report to the House.

ORDERED, — That the Chair present the report to the House.

At 4:48 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.



Marie-Hélène Sauvé
Clerk of the Committee