CIMM Committee Meeting

The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration met at 9:07 a.m. this day, in Room 209, West Block, for the purpose of electing a Chair, pursuant to Standing Order 106(1).

Rick Dykstra moved, — That David Tilson be elected Chair of the Committee.

The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division: YEAS: Maurizio Bevilacqua, Paul Calandra, Olivia Chow, Jean Dorion, Rick Dykstra, Nina Grewal, Jim Karygiannis, Alexandra Mendes, Devinder Shory, Thierry St-Cyr, David Tilson, Alice Wong — 12.

On motion of Thierry St-Cyr, it was agreed, — That Maurizio Bevilacqua be elected first Vice-Chair of the Committee.

On motion of Jean Dorion, it was agreed, — That Thierry St-Cyr be elected Second Vice-Chair of the Committee.

David Tilson took the Chair.

On motion of Rick Dykstra, it was agreed, — That the Committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the Chair, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.

Rick Dykstra moved, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of one member of each party, and that the Chair of the committee sit as ex officio to chair the subcommittee meetings.

Debate arose thereon.

At 9:24 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 9:25 a.m., the sitting resumed.

By unanimous consent, it was agreed, — That the motion be amended to read as follows: “That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of the Chair, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, the two Vice-Chairs and a member of the other opposition party”.

After debate, the question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to.

On motion of Olivia Chow, it was agreed, — That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence printed when a quorum is not present, provided that at least three (3) members are present, including one member of the opposition.

Alexandra Mendes moved, — That only the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the Committee and only when such documents exist in both official languages.

Debate arose thereon.

Olivia Chow moved, — That the motion be amended by inserting between the words “members of the Committee” and “and only when” the words, “and deputy critics”.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Olivia Chow and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 5; NAYS: 6.

The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

On motion of Alexandra Mendes, it was agreed, — That the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the Committee and its subcommittees.

On motion of Rick Dykstra, it was agreed, — That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses, not exceeding two (2) representatives per organization; and that, in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.

Maurizio Bevilacqua moved, — That, unless otherwise ordered, each Committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff person at an in camera meeting.

Debate arose thereon.

Rick Dykstra moved, — That the motion be amended by adding at the end the words “and in addition to that, one person from either the whip's office, the House leader's office, or the research division of each party”.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Rick Dykstra and it was agreed to.

After debate, the question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to.

The motion, as adopted, read as follows:

That, unless otherwise ordered, each Committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff person at an in camera meeting and in addition to that, one person from either the whip's office, the House leader's office, or the research division of each party.

On motion of Rick Dykstra, it was agreed, — That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be kept in the Committee Clerk’s office for consultation by members of the Committee.

Rick Dykstra moved, — That 48-hours' notice be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the Committee, unless the susbstantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration; and that the notice of motion be filed with the Clerk of the Committee and distributed to members in both official languages.

Debate arose thereon.

Jim Karygiannis moved, — That the motion be amended by adding the words at the end, “and that the period of notice be calculated from the time of submission to the Clerk”.

After debate, by unanimous consent, the amendment was withdrawn.

Thierry St-Cyr moved, — That the motion be amended by substitution for the words “48-hours’ notice” of the words “42-hours’ notice”.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Thierry St-Cyr and it was agreed to.

The question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to.

The motion, as adopted, read as follows:

That 42-hours’ notice be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the Committee, unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration; and that the notice of motion be filed with the Clerk of the Committee and distributed to members in both official languages.

Rick Dykstra moved, — That, in the case of previously scheduled meetings taking place outside the parliamentary precinct, the committee members in attendance shall only be required to wait for 15 minutes following the designated start of a meeting before they may proceed to hear witnesses and receive evidence regardless of whether opposition or government members are present.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was negatived.

On motion of Olivia Chow, it was agreed, — That whenever the main estimates or the supplementary estimates are tabled in the House, the committee invite the minister and appropriate senior officials to appear at a televised meeting of the committee.

Rick Dykstra moved, — That when the chair and the vice-chairs are unable to act in the capacity, at or during the meeting of the committee, the chair shall designate a member of the committee to act as chair at or during the said meeting, and such an acting chair shall be vested with all the powers of the chair at or during said meeting.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was negatived.

Rick Dykstra moved, — That the order of questions for the first round of questioning shall be as follows: Liberal, Bloc Québécois, New Democratic Party and Conservative; that questioning during the second round shall alternate between the opposition members and government members in the following fashion: Liberal, Conservative, Bloc Québécois, Conservative, Liberal, Conservative and Conservative (based on the principle that each committee member shall have a full opportunity to question the witness or witnesses); and that, if time permits, further rounds shall repeat the pattern of the first two at the discretion of the Chair.

Debate arose thereon.

At 10:01 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 10:09 a.m., the sitting resumed.

Maurizio Bevilacqua moved, — That the motion be amended to read, “That the order of questions for the first round of questioning be as follows: Liberal, Bloc Québécois, New Democratic Party, Conservative; that questioning during the second round shall alternate between the opposition members and government members in the following fashion: Liberal, Bloc Québécois, Conservative, Conservative, Liberal, Conservative, Conservative; and that, if time permits, further rounds shall repeat the pattern of the first round, at the discretion of the Chair”.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Maurizio Bevilacqua and it was agreed to.

The question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to.

Rick Dykstra moved, — That the witnesses from any one organization shall be allowed ten (10) minutes to make their opening statement; that, during the questioning of witnesses, there shall be allocated seven (7) minutes for the first round of questioning and thereafter five (5) minutes shall be allocated to each questioner in the 2nd and subsequent rounds of questioning.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

On motion of Rick Dykstra, it was agreed, — That whenever a minister or any officials appear before the committee where they are able to speak from notes that a copy of the statement or notes be distributed by the start of their statements to be fair to each member of the committee.

Rick Dykstra moved, — That the consideration and examination of any new Bill -government or private member's Bill - which falls within the express mandate of the committee, shall take precedence over any study or non-legislative examination, and, in such circumstances, non-legislative studies shall be deferred until such time as the Bill is reported back to the House.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was negatived.

Rick Dykstra moved, — That every party shall have the right to attach as an annex a dissenting opinion on any report to be presented to the House of Commons by the committee, and that this dissenting opinion shall be submitted to the clerk of the committee within 72 hours of passing of the report by the committee, in both official languages.

Debate arose thereon.

Olivia Chow moved, — That the motion be amended by substituting for the words “within 72 hours” the words “within 48 hours”.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Olivia Chow and it was agreed to.

The question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That every party shall have the right to attach as an annex a dissenting opinion on any report to be presented to the House of Commons by the committee, and that this dissenting opinion shall be submitted to the clerk of the committee within 48 hours of passing of the report by the committee, in both official languages.

Olivia Chow moved, — That the unedited transcripts of the committee meetings, “blues”, be distributed on request to interested members of the bureaucracy, media and public provided that a clear caveat on the appropriate use accompanies them.

Debate arose thereon.

On motion of Maurizio Bevilacqua, it was agreed, — That motion be amended by deleting the words, “provided that a clear caveat on the appropriate use accompanies them”.

The question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to on the following recorded division: YEAS: Maurizio Bevilacqua, Olivia Chow, Jean Dorion, Jim Karygiannis, Alexandra Mendes, Thierry St-Cyr — 6; NAYS: Paul Calandra, Rick Dykstra, Devinder Shory, Alice Wong — 4.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That the unedited transcripts of the committee meetings, blues, be distributed on request to interested members of the bureaucracy, media and public.

At 10:37 a.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.