TRAN Committee Meeting
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38th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION
Standing Committee on Transport
EVIDENCE
CONTENTS
Thursday, October 20, 2005
| ¿ | 0910 |
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The Clerk of the Committee |
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Mr. Jim Gouk (British Columbia Southern Interior, CPC) |
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The Clerk |
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Mr. Leon Benoit (Vegreville—Wainwright, CPC) |
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Mr. Robert Carrier (Alfred-Pellan, BQ) |
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The Clerk |
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Ms. Caroline St-Hilaire (Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, BQ) |
|
Mr. Raymond Bonin |
|
The Clerk |
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Mr. Robert Carrier |
|
The Clerk |
|
Mr. Raymond Bonin |
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The Clerk |
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The Chair (Hon. Roger Gallaway (Sarnia—Lambton, Lib.)) |
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Mr. Jim Gouk |
|
Hon. Roger Gallaway |
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Mr. Jim Gouk |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Raymond Bonin |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Don Bell (North Vancouver, Lib.) |
| ¿ | 0915 |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Don Bell |
|
The Chair |
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Mr. Raymond Bonin |
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The Chair |
CANADA
Standing Committee on Transport |
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l |
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l |
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EVIDENCE
Thursday, October 20, 2005
[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]
* * *
¿ 
(0910)
[English]
The Clerk of the Committee: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
We are gathered here today to proceed to the election of the chair and vice-chairs, pursuant to Standing Order 106(3).
I am ready to receive nominations to that effect.
Mr. Jim Gouk (British Columbia Southern Interior, CPC): I nominate Roger for chairman.
The Clerk: Are there any other nominations?
I declare Mr. Gallaway elected and I invite him to take the chair.
A voice: We want to make this meeting quick this morning.
The Clerk: I'm sorry, I have to proceed to the election of the vice-chairs. I'm waiting to receive nominations to that effect.
Mr. Leon Benoit (Vegreville—Wainwright, CPC): I nominate Jim Gouk.
The Clerk: Are there any other nominations?
[Translation]
Mr. Robert Carrier (Alfred-Pellan, BQ): For the position of vice-chair?
The Clerk: Yes.
Ms. Caroline St-Hilaire (Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, BQ): For the second vice-chair.
Mr. Raymond Bonin: First, we have to elect the first one.
The Clerk: We will first have the vote to elect Mr. Gouk; he has been nominated.
Mr. Robert Carrier: Fine.
[English]
The Clerk: All in favor?
(Motion agreed to)
The Clerk: Second vice-chair.
[Translation]
Mr. Raymond Bonin: I nominate Ms. St-Hilaire.
The Clerk: Very well. So, I declare that Mr. Gouk and Ms. St-Hilaire have been elected vice-chairs of the committee.
Voices: Bravo!
[English]
The Chair (Hon. Roger Gallaway (Sarnia—Lambton, Lib.)): Thank you.
We should acknowledge that we have a new parliamentary secretary on the government side, Charles Hubbard.
Additionally, we have Mr. Don Bell from West Vancouver.
Mr. Julian was here at a previous meeting, but we welcome him to this newly constituted committee.
Prior to the so-called dissolution of this committee, we had wanted to see the Minister of Transport. We were unable to meet with him because of the dissolution of the committee.
I believe we have a tentative date for the minister to come next week. Is that Thursday?
The Clerk: It is not yet confirmed.
The Chair: It's not absolute, but we're fairly certainly it will be next Thursday, a week from today.
What about VIA?
The Clerk: November 2.
The Chair: November 2, VIA Rail. That's confirmed.
We have agreement from all the whips that six members of this committee can travel to Washington; that would be two from the government, two from the official opposition, one from the Bloc, one from the NDP. We have the funding for that and it will be a continuation of our examination of airport rents and so-called open skies, air liberalization, whatever you like to call it.
We only have a very limited window of time in which to do this. The date that is being suggested is October 30, which is a Sunday. That would be a travel day to Washington. Knowing that people are in their ridings, you could travel from wherever is most convenient for you. In the case of Mr. Carrier or Madame St-Hilaire, it would be Montreal. Depending on who goes from our side, it would be a similar situation. But we can make arrangements.
Mr. Gouk.
Mr. Jim Gouk: Mr. Chairman, I want to cooperate in terms of travel as much as possible, but it is a problem for me. I am at home that weekend and I'm not even sure if I can get from my riding to Washington on a Sunday. In any case, it would be an entire full day's travel. I would therefore prefer that we defer it at least one day and depart on the Monday.
Hon. Roger Gallaway: Okay. Perhaps early next week we ought to have a meeting of the steering committee to sort all these details out. We'll notify the members of the steering committee and meet. Next week, perhapsTuesday might be a good day.
Are there any other matters anyone wishes to raise?
Mr. Gouk has provided a motion. Let me read it. It's handwritten.
| I move that the Standing Committee on Transport request that the government instruct VIA Rail to cease any plans to expand their operation between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Jasper, Alberta, in competition with the unsubsidized private sector company that built up that route. |
Mr. Jim Gouk: I'll provide full details at the time.
The Chair: That's simply a notice, so we'll deal with that next week.
Mr. Raymond Bonin: If you need a seconder, I'll second it.
The Chair: Thank you.
Are there any other matters?
Mr. Don Bell (North Vancouver, Lib.): Mr. Chair, I've just spoken to Mr. Julian, and an issue that we both share and would like to discuss sometime in the future has to do with train whistles at crossings, particularly in urban areas.
¿ (0915)
The Chair: All right. I think we'll deal with that—
Mr. Don Bell: We'll get some facts together and bring some reports.
The Chair: Okay.
The other thing I wanted to say, particularly to Mr. Bell or to Mr. Julian, is that if you are looking for information and you want a briefing, Mr. Chistopher is available at any time. That's what he's here for.
Is there any other business that anyone wants to raise?
Mr. Raymond Bonin: I move that we adjourn.
The Chair: We are adjourned.