TRAN Committee Meeting

STANDING COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT

LE COMITÉ PERMANENT DES TRANSPORTS

EVIDENCE

[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]

Tuesday, October 6, 1998

• 1537

[English]

The Clerk of the Committee: Bonjour. Good afternoon.

[Translation]

Members of the committee, since we have a quorum, I'd like to call this meeting to order.

[English]

In conformity with Standing Orders 106(1) and (2), your first item of business is to elect a chair. I am ready to receive motions to that effect.

Mr. Calder.

Mr. Murray Calder (Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey, Lib.): Madam Clerk, I have the great honour to nominate Ray Bonin as the chair of the Standing Committee on Transport.

The Clerk: Is it the pleasure of this committee to adopt the said motion?

(Motion agreed to)

The Clerk: Monsieur Bonin.

Some hon. members: Hear, hear.

The Chairman (Mr. Raymond Bonin (Nickel Belt, Lib.)): Colleagues, most of you were here before and we have worked together. First of all, I want to thank you for electing me chair. You know that I'm not long on formalities.

We'll proceed to the election of two vice-chairs. Nominations are open.

Mr. Dromisky.

Mr. Stan Dromisky (Thunder Bay—Atikokan, Lib.): It's a great pleasure to nominate Roy Cullen for the position of vice-chairman.

The Chairman: Seconded by Monsieur Drouin. Are there other nominations?

Mr. Roy Bailey (Souris—Moose Mountain, Ref.): I nominate Lee Morrison as vice-chair.

The Chairman: I accept the nomination, seconded by Monsieur Guimond.

Are there any other nominations? Nominations are closed and both are acclaimed.

(Motions agreed to)

Monsieur Guimond.

[Translation]

Mr. Michel Guimond (Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-de- Beaupré—Ile-d'Orléans, BQ): Mr. Chairman, I would point out to my Reform Party colleagues that in supporting Mr. Morrison's nomination, like my colleague Mr. Bailey, I wanted to show that our party, unlike the Reform Party, fully supports the parliamentary rule whereby it is quite appropriate for the official opposition to hold the position of the second vice-chair. Everyone knows what the Reform Party put us through after the 1993 election.

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The Chairman: So noted.

Mr. Michel Guimond: Remember that Quebec's motto is Je me souviens.

[English]

The Chairman: I have two notices of motion that I will read to you before we adjourn.

Before we do, I'd like to suggest to you that we meet on Tuesday upon our return. I'd like to suggest that we have a steering committee of the whole, which means everyone, so that we can plan, in general terms, our work for the fall.

Is that acceptable?

Some hon. members: Agreed.

The Chairman: Therefore, that's what we'll do at 3.30 p.m. on Tuesday upon our return.

There is one other issue. So that we can start booking rooms, do you agree that we continue to hold our meetings at 3.30 p.m. on Tuesdays and at 9 a.m. on Thursdays, as needed?

Mr. Murray Calder: That will be a conflict for me, Mr. Chair, because the agriculture committee also usually meets on Thursdays at 9 a.m.

The Chairman: Okay. For the time being, we'll go with these times, subject to a change for the Thursday meeting. Is the Tuesday time okay?

Some hon. members: Agreed.

The Chairman: You'll notice that holding meetings on Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings allows for longer weekends for those of you who have work in the ridings.

Is there any other business before I read the notices of motion?

This notice of motion is from Mr. Morrison: that pursuant to Standing Order 111(4), whenever an order in council for appointment or a certificate of nomination for appointment is referred to the committee, the clerk shall obtain and circulate to each member of the committee a copy of the resumé of each appointee.

This is a notice of motion that will not be on the agenda on Tuesday when we meet—because it's a steering committee meeting—but it will be on the agenda of our first meeting.

The other notice of motion by Mr. Morrison is: that the committee agrees, when a private member's bill is referred, to put the bill on its agenda at the earliest possible time in order to invite the member to explain the bill to the committee and to decide on its work plan.

And that also will be on the agenda of the first meeting.

Mr. Cullen.

[Translation]

Mr. Roy Cullen (Etobicoke North, Lib.): During the last session, I tabled a motion concerning Canada's international air transportation policy. Whatever happened to it?

The Chairman: Did you table a formal motion or did you merely express an interest in discussing this matter?

Mr. Roy Cullen: In my motion, I asked that representatives of Air Canada, Canadian Airlines International and the federal Transport Department be invited to give testimony before the committee.

The Chairman: Regarding which matter?

Mr. Roy Cullen: I moved this motion during the last session.

The Chairman: What exactly was the intent of your motion?

Mr. Roy Cullen: It pertained to Canada's international air transportation policy. Do you recall the debate on international routes?

The Chairman: Each time a committee member proposes that a matter be debated, we add it to a list of suggested topics. The committee has a responsibility to assign an order of priority to the topics on this list.

[English]

Here's what we have done since we started work together. Whenever anyone has an issue that he or she wishes to be discussed or a study that he or she wishes to be made, it goes on the list. We have the list. We will distribute it to you.

Whenever we run out of work—and we didn't last time—and you wish to undertake one of those studies or issues, it's up to the individual member presenting the issue or study to convince the group that it be the top priority, and the priority can change as long as you convince your colleagues.

Therefore, the list will be presented to you at the steering committee meeting. It is not prioritized. Anyone thinking that his or her issue should be first will have the job of prioritizing it.

This is the work schedule, but the way you agree to do the work can change. That's what we'll discuss on Tuesday.

Therefore, Mr. Cullen, that would be on that list.

Madam Clerk, I'm sure you have the list. I'll ask you to provide each of us with a copy before the meeting.

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Mr. Morrison.

Mr. Lee Morrison (Cypress Hills—Grasslands, Ref.): Mr. Chairman, I have a couple of items I would like to have placed on the list. Should I give those to the clerk or present them first in the steering committee and then give them to the clerk? What's the procedure?

The Chairman: Either way. The list of issues or studies is a living document. You can keep adding to it, but at a given point, when we have no legislation coming and no study on the table and you wish to do some work, that's when the little battle will have to start, when we will ask, “What's the priority?” I would like us to start discussing that on Tuesday the week after next.

Ms. Karen Kraft Sloan.

Mrs. Karen Kraft Sloan (York North, Lib.): Mr. Chair, we won't be having any further votes in the committee at this time, will we? Mr. Lincoln and I have an environment committee meeting.

The Chairman: If there is no other business, the meeting is adjourned.