STATEMENT BY THE CHAIR
Pursuant to Order made by the House on Wednesday, March 3, 2010, the following routine motions in effect at the time of prorogation of the previous session are deemed to have been adopted by the Committee in the current session:
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.
That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive and publish evidence when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four (4) members are present, including two (2) members of the opposition.
That the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the Committee only when they exist in both official languages; that no document provided by a witness be distributed without the Clerk’s authorization and, since the documents must be in both official languages in order to be distributed, that the Clerk advise the witnesses of the availability of a translation service.
That the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the Committee.
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.
That, unless otherwise ordered, each Committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one of his or her staff person, in addition to one staff person from the office of the Whip of each party, at in camera meetings.
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.
That 48 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.
That witnesses be given ten (10) minutes for their opening statement and that during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated:
For the first round, five (5) minutes be allocated to the first questioner of each party in the following order: Liberal, Bloc Québécois, New Democratic Party, Conservative;
For the second round, five (5) minutes be allocated to each subsequent questioner of each party in the following order: Liberal, Bloc Québécois, Conservative, New Democratic Party;
For the third round, five (5) minutes be allocated to each subsequent questioner of each party in the following order: Liberal, Conservative, Bloc Québécois;
For the fourth round, five (5) minutes be allocated to each subsequent questioner of each party in the following order: Conservative, Liberal, New Democratic Party, Bloc Québécois; and
For the fifth round, time permitting and should Members wish to do so, a repeat of the first round with questions for three (3) minutes.
That the meetings with the Commissioner of Official Languages and any Minister be televised if possible.
That any member of the Committee be entitled to submit a dissenting or supplementary opinion to any Committee report in accordance to the Standing Orders of the House, provided that it is no more than five (5) pages in length and submitted electronically to the Clerk in the 48 hours following the adoption of a report, in both official languages.