[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]

Tuesday, September 19, 1995

.1105

[Translation]

The Clerk of the committee: We can start.

[English]

Each standing or special committee shall elect a chairman and two vice-chairmen, of whom two shall be members of the government party and a third a member in opposition to the government, in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order 116, at the commencement of every session and, if necessary, during the course of a session.

[Translation]

Pursuant to Standing Order 116, the Standing Orders shall apply as far as they may be applicable, except the provisions relating to the election of the Speaker, the seconding of motions, the number of times of speaking and the length of speeches.

[English]

I'm ready to receive motions for the election of the chair.

Mr. Mills (Broadview - Greenwood): I would like to propose John Godfrey as our committee chair.

[Translation]

The Clerk: Mr. Leroux.

Mr. Leroux (Richmond-Wolfe): I move that Mr. Yves Rocheleau be elected vice-chair of the committee.

The Clerk: First of all, we will proceed with the election of the chair and then with the election of a vice-chair.

[English]

Mr. Discepola (Vaudreuil): Do you need a seconder?

The Clerk: That would be fine, Mr. Discepola.

We have a motion for Mr. Godfrey to become the chairman of the Standing Committee on Industry.

Some hon. members: Agreed.

The Clerk: I declare Mr. Godfrey duly elected.

The Chairman: Thank you very much.

Bonnie Brown and I, who served together on the heritage committee, were wondering how these things were done, wondering how each of us got here. I explained that there's a computer in the whip's office that is programmed like a CD player. There's a random function on it. You push the button and you never know what's going to come up.

So I am your chair for better, for worse. Thank you for electing me.

[Translation]

Now, we must elect a vice-chair. Mr. Leroux.

Mr. Leroux: I move that Yves Rocheleau be elected vice-chair of the committee.

[English]

Mr. Mayfield (Cariboo - Chilcotin): I move that Werner Schmidt be vice-chair.

The Chairman: We have another nomination. Do we have a seconder for that? Mr. Harper.

Are there any other nominations?

We're going to have two vice-chairs, but, as the clerk reminds me, what we should probably do is fill the slot for the opposition vice-chair and then return and do the government vice-chair.

So we now have two candidates for the opposition vice-chair. Since we have a little contest here, what do we do?

The Clerk: You proceed on the first motion that was moved. If that is negatived, then you proceed to the second motion moved.

The Chairman: And we take it as an open vote of the committee as a whole?

The Clerk: If that's everyone's wish, yes.

The Chairman: Fine.

We have the first motion,

[Translation]

which proposes Mr. Rocheleau. Please raise your hands if you agree.

Motion agreed to

.1110

[English]

The Chairman: I declare that

[Translation]

Mr. Rocheleau is duly elected vice-chair of the committee for the opposition.

[English]

Now it's time to nominate a vice-chair for the government side. Would anyone care to make a nomination? Mr. Discepola.

Mr. Discepola: I would propose the candidacy of Mr. Andy Mitchell.

The Chairman: Have we a seconder? Mr. Valeri. Any other nominations? I see that nominations have ceased.

I declare Mr. Mitchell the vice-chair. Congratulations.

The suggestion would be that we take advantage of the meeting, although there are many of us here who are new, including the clerk and a new researcher, Mr. Jackson, who is at the back of the room. You might want to raise your hand, Mr. Jackson. There is Bonnie Brown, and I think everyone else, if not an old hand, is at least a former hand.

The suggestion is that we might possibly go into an in camera meeting to talk about future business, if that would be the wish of the committee, to plan our fall agenda. Would that be agreeable? So those who are not associated with any of our offices or the research staff....

Mr. Mills: Mr. Chairman, I would ask support of members that we have a few minutes alone as members of Parliament, with the exception of our clerk and our translators.

Mr. Discepola: Is it appropriate to present a motion of congratulations for the outgoing president, thanking him for the excellent work he did?

The Chairman: That would be very appropriate.

Mr. Schmidt (Okanagan Centre): I second that.

The Chairman: All those in favour? Fine, we will send such a letter.

We have a suggestion, and we can put it to a vote if there's a general feeling of agreement, that we meet essentially with only the translators.

Mr. Mills: This is just for a few minutes, with members only.

The Clerk: This would be in camera.

An hon. member: Can we know why?

Mr. Mills: Yes, I'll tell you once we're in camera.

The Chairman: If this takes a few minutes, depending on what the conversation is about, although I hate to speculate about hypothetical questions, could we then assume that we might come back in camera, or somewhat less in camera than we would have been? Is that okay?

Some hon. members: Yes.

The Chairman: We will now meet in camera.

[Proceedings continue in camera]