FOPO Committee Meeting
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37th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION
Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans
EVIDENCE
CONTENTS
Tuesday, November 5, 2002
| Á | 1105 |
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The Clerk |
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Mr. John Cummins (Delta—South Richmond, Canadian Alliance) |
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Mr. Sarkis Assadourian (Brampton Centre, Lib.) |
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Mr. John Cummins |
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Mr. Sarkis Assadourian |
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The Clerk |
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Mr. Sarkis Assadourian |
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The Clerk |
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Mr. Peter Stoffer (Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore, NDP) |
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Mr. Sarkis Assadourian |
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Mr. Peter Stoffer |
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Mr. Sarkis Assadourian |
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Mr. Peter Stoffer |
| Á | 1110 |
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Mr. Sarkis Assadourian |
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Mr. Peter Stoffer |
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The Clerk |
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Mr. Jean-Yves Roy (Matapédia—Matane, BQ) |
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The Clerk |
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Mr. Tom Wappel (Scarborough Southwest, Lib.) |
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The Clerk |
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Mr. Andy Burton (Skeena, Canadian Alliance) |
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Mr. Tom Wappel |
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Mr. Sarkis Assadourian |
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The Clerk |
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Mr. Sarkis Assadourian |
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The Clerk |
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Mr. Sarkis Assadourian |
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Mr. John McKay (Scarborough East, Lib.) |
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The Clerk |
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Mr. John McKay |
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The Clerk |
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Mr. Dominic LeBlanc (Beauséjour—Petitcodiac, Lib.) |
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Mr. Maurice Vellacott (Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, Canadian Alliance) |
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The Clerk |
| Á | 1115 |
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The Clerk |
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Mr. Sarkis Assadourian |
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Mr. Peter Stoffer |
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Mr. Andy Burton |
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The Chair |
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Mr. John Cummins |
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The Chair |
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Mr. John Cummins |
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The Chair |
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Mr. John McKay |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Peter Stoffer |
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The Chair |
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Mr. R. John Efford (Bonavista—Trinity—Conception, Lib.) |
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The Chair |
| Á | 1120 |
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The Chair |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Andy Burton |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Rodger Cuzner (Bras d'Or—Cape Breton, Lib.) |
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The Chair |
| Á | 1125 |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Peter Stoffer |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Peter Stoffer |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Loyola Hearn (St. John's West, PC) |
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The Chair |
CANADA
Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans |
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l |
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l |
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EVIDENCE
Tuesday, November 5, 2002
[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]
Á 
(1105)
[Translation]
The Clerk: Honourable members of the committee, we have a quorum.
[English]
Pursuant to Standing Order 106, the first item of business is election of the chair. I'm prepared to receive motions to that effect.
Mr. John Cummins (Delta—South Richmond, Canadian Alliance): On a point of order, I would like to bring up a couple of issues with regard to election of the chair.
You folks are prepared to agree by unanimous consent to a secret ballot. And that's much appreciated, because on this committee, as any of the members who have been on the committee for awhile will tell you, we work well together. Politics really hasn't been an issue. I think we've all expressed our opinions and we've done very well. However, one of the concerns we have over here this morning is that we don't have a full list of government members, so we're not really sure who's eligible to be chairman. We're wondering if there is some way that issue could be addressed this morning.
I don't know whether or not somebody over there is prepared to speak to that.
Mr. Sarkis Assadourian (Brampton Centre, Lib.): Just for clarification, what does Mr. Cummins mean by a full slate of government members? I count nine people here.
Mr. John Cummins: No, what I mean is that we don't know who the members of the committee are. For example, Wayne Easter is still on the list of government committee members, and I would say he's not likely to be here. So before we proceed, I think from our point of view it's kind of essential that we know what is the final list.
Speaking for myself, I'm open to whomever you may be nominating over there for chairman--I don't have a choice in mind--but I'd like to know what the full spectrum of options are here. I think that concern is shared by other members on this side.
Monsieur Roy or Mr. Hearn may want to address that issue.
Mr. Sarkis Assadourian: But first, to the clerk, do you have a list of substitute members from the government side, or a complete list of members? Can you read the names?
The Clerk: I do have a list of the members who are substituted in for this meeting.
Mr. Sarkis Assadourian: So we have the list here. Then what's the problem?
The Clerk: Mr. Stoffer.
Mr. Peter Stoffer (Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore, NDP): If I may, he has a list of the substitute members. We would like the list of who has been selected to be, on the Liberal side, on the fisheries committee.
Mr. Sarkis Assadourian: It doesn't matter--
Mr. Peter Stoffer: It does matter. There are nine members, but who are they? We're not worried about substitutes or alternates. Who are the nine regular members?
Mr. Sarkis Assadourian: For the purpose of the election of the officers, this is perfect.
Mr. Peter Stoffer: No, no; what if we want to vote for someone who is not here?
Á (1110)
Mr. Sarkis Assadourian: It's a secret ballot. Vote the way you want.
Mr. Peter Stoffer: Well, we need to know their names.
The Clerk: Monsieur Roy.
[Translation]
Mr. Jean-Yves Roy (Matapédia—Matane, BQ): As Mr. Cummins was saying, Mr. Easter's name still appears on the list of committee members submitted by the government. Obviously, we cannot vote for someone who isn't here. As Mr. Cummins said, perhaps it would be preferable to have a real list, an amended list of government members, so that we have a real choice. Right now, it seems that the name of someone who won't or cannot sit on this committee appears on the list. That's the problem. We need to have a real list of confirmed government candidates, so that we can proceed with the vote.
[English]
The Clerk: Mr. Wappel.
Mr. Tom Wappel (Scarborough Southwest, Lib.): Mr. Clerk, the list of the committee members is confirmed, as shown in the order that the House has approved. I suppose the only question mark might be Mr. Easter, since he's now Solicitor General. It's my information from our whip that Mr. Efford, a former fisheries minister in Newfoundland, is going to be replacing Mr. Easter. That being the case, I'm sure he'll make a very excellent contribution to the committee.
Personally, I don't see what the problem is. Mr. Easter is the only one who's problematic, and my information is that Mr. Easter will not be on the committee for obvious reasons, and Mr. Efford will replace him. Other than that, we have our people here and we're ready to go. And I think it's fair to say that we agree with secret ballots.
The Clerk: Mr. Burton.
Mr. Andy Burton (Skeena, Canadian Alliance): Thank you, Mr. Clerk.
My question then is, Mr. Efford's name is not on this list; is he eligible to run for a position until the list is approved by the House? So we don't have the full list of candidates until it's an official list.
Mr. Tom Wappel: In my view, there's no necessity to have an official list. If people on the secret ballot wish to put forward a name, they can put forward that name. If it turns out that name is improper, then we'll have to have another election at some other time.
Mr. Sarkis Assadourian: That would be void, yes; a spoiled ballot, then.
The Clerk: If it clarifies things for members, I cannot receive motions to elect a non-member of the committee to the position of chair.
Mr. Sarkis Assadourian: Okay, fair game. That's fair.
The Clerk: I'm prepared to receive nominations.
Mr. Sarkis Assadourian: I'd like to nominate Tom Wappel as chair.
Mr. John McKay (Scarborough East, Lib.): I second it.
The Clerk: Is there agreement to proceed by secret ballot?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
The Clerk: Very well. Are there any further nominations?
Seeing no further nominations, we'll distribute ballots. The motion is that Tom Wappel be elected chair of the committee.
Mr. John McKay: Is that required when there are no other names and nominations?
The Clerk: I'm in the hands of the committee. The committee has agreed to proceed by secret ballot. You could vote yes or no by secret ballot, or with the one nomination...but I'm in the hands of the committee.
Mr. Dominic LeBlanc (Beauséjour—Petitcodiac, Lib.): If there's one nomination, and it's Tom Wappel, I would propose that we proceed to elect him unanimously as chair, and move on to vice-chair.
Mr. Maurice Vellacott (Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, Canadian Alliance): Mr. Clerk, I was at the aboriginal affairs committee yesterday, and I proposed the Liberal chair Ray Bonin. So although there was only one, in order to uphold the principle of a secrecy of ballot we still did a yes-no vote. That way the chair, if it would be Tom, would have a mandate and authority, if you will.
That was the intent of the motion I put forward, for chair and vice-chair.
The Clerk: Are members in agreement?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
The Clerk: Then my colleague and I will distribute ballots. Members are asked simply to vote yea or nay on the motion.
Á (1115)
The Clerk: I declare Tom Wappel elected chair of the committee, and I invite him to take the seat.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear!
Mr. Sarkis Assadourian: Can we get the results?
Mr. Peter Stoffer: No, the ballots should be destroyed. I move that we destroy the ballots.
Mr. Andy Burton: I want to nominate, for vice-chair, John Cummins.
The Chair: First of all, let me just say merci beaucoup, thank you very much. I will do the best I can, and hopefully that will serve us well on this committee, which has been a very good, hard-working, non-partisan committee.
Standing Order 106(2) states:
| Each standing or special committee shall elect a Chairman and two Vice-Chairmen, of whom two shall be Members of the government party and the third a Member in opposition to the government |
So we are moving for the election of vice-chair. I'm not sure how we should do this. Perhaps we should call for nominations for.... No? You don't want to do it that way?
Mr. John Cummins: It's the opposition first.
The Chair: It would seem to me normal to have the government side dealt with first and then go to the opposition.
Mr. John Cummins: Maybe; it doesn't really matter.
The Chair: All right. Then let's go with the government side.
Can I have nominations, if any, for the position of vice-chair on the government side?
Mr. McKay.
Mr. John McKay: Rodger Cuzner.
The Chair: Any seconder?
Mr. Peter Stoffer: I'll second that.
The Chair: Any other nominations?
Mr. Efford.
Mr. R. John Efford (Bonavista—Trinity—Conception, Lib.): Mr. Steckle.
The Chair: We don't actually need a seconder.
Any other nominations?
Seeing no further nominations, we'll now have a secret ballot vote. The two candidates are Rodger Cuzner and Paul Steckle.
Á (1120)
The Chair: We declare Mr. Cuzner the vice-chair.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear!
The Chair: Are we agreed that the ballots be destroyed?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
The Chair: Now we have the election of vice-chair from the opposition parties.
Mr. Andy Burton: I move John Cummins.
The Chair: Any other nominations?
Mr. Cuzner.
Mr. Rodger Cuzner (Bras d'Or—Cape Breton, Lib.): I move fellow Nova Scotian Peter Stoffer.
The Chair: Any other nominations?
Seeing no further nominations, we will have a secret ballot vote on two candidates, Mr. Cummins and Mr. Stoffer.
Á (1125)
The Chair: I declare Peter Stoffer elected vice-chair.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear!
Mr. Peter Stoffer: I thank the academy....
The Chair: Now, gentlemen, the piece of paper we have in front of us says “adjournment to the call of the chair”, but I'm in your hands. We do have a number of routine motions that we could discuss, go through, and pass if we want to do that. The alternative would be for me to adjourn and discuss with the vice-chairs the routine proceedings.
I'm in your hands. What would you like to do?
Mr. Vice-Chair Stoffer.
Mr. Peter Stoffer: Sir, with your indulgence and that of the committee, I wouldn't mind having a few minutes to discuss certain issues that we as a committee perhaps should be focusing on. One of them, of course, would be the concern on the west coast in terms of the salmon industry and the aquaculture industry. Recently we--
The Chair: Mr. Stoffer, excuse me, but my question is on whether or not we wish to deal with routine proceedings. The issue at this point is that I now either adjourn the meeting or we deal with routine proceedings. I'm trying to get a sense from the committee of what you'd like to do.
Mr. Hearn.
Mr. Loyola Hearn (St. John's West, PC): I move we adjourn, Mr. Chairman. I think it would be better for you guys to get together. We can pick it up at the next meeting and go from there.
The Chair: Is that the consensus?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
The Chair: Very good.
Thank you very much for coming.
The meeting is adjourned to the call of the chair.