FINA Committee Meeting
Notices of Meeting include information about the subject matter to be examined by the committee and date, time and place of the meeting, as well as a list of any witnesses scheduled to appear. The Evidence is the edited and revised transcript of what is said before a committee. The Minutes of Proceedings are the official record of the business conducted by the committee at a sitting.
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38th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION
Standing Committee on Finance
EVIDENCE
CONTENTS
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
| ¿ | 0945 |
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The Chair (Mr. Massimo Pacetti (Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, Lib.)) |
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Mr. Yvan Loubier (Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, BQ) |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Yvan Loubier |
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The Chair |
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Hon. John McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood, Lib.) |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Yvan Loubier |
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Hon. John McKay |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Yvan Loubier |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Yvan Loubier |
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The Chair |
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Hon. John McKay |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Charles Hubbard (Miramichi, Lib.) |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Yvan Loubier |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Yvan Loubier |
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Mr. Charlie Penson (Peace River, CPC) |
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The Chair |
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Hon. John McKay |
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The Chair |
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Mr. Charles Hubbard |
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The Chair |
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Hon. John McKay |
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Mr. Charles Hubbard |
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The Chair |
CANADA
Standing Committee on Finance |
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EVIDENCE
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]
* * *
¿ (0945)
[Translation]
The Chair (Mr. Massimo Pacetti (Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, Lib.)): Mr. Loubier.
Mr. Yvan Loubier (Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, BQ): Mr. Chair, I would like to get permission from the committee to make time on Thursday to debate this motion for 15 minutes. I think the minister will be here Thursday.
The Chair: That has not been confirmed yet.
Mr. Yvan Loubier: I would prefer to put off this debate until Thursday because the Speech from the Throne will have been officially adopted as amended. As this is entirely in keeping with the content of the Speech from the Throne and because in fact it wraps up the work done on this side, my preference would be that we debate and pass this motion Thursday, if members of the committee do not object It would make more sense to go along the same lines as the Speech from the Throne.
[English]
The Chair: Is anyone opposed to that?
Hon. John McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood, Lib.): I was distracted for a second. What is the amendment to the motion that Mr. Loubier has put forward?
The Chair: There is no amendment being proposed. It's just to put it off until Thursday.
[Translation]
Mr. Yvan Loubier: I had moved a motion last week. I had intended to move a subamendment aimed at making a link with the Speech from the Throne, but since the Speech from the Throne, as amended, will not be passed before Wednesday and since this motion is in keeping with its content, my preference would be that we debate this motion after the Speech from the Throne has been formerly passed. It would make more sense. Otherwise, it would be as if we were anticipating the passing of the Speech from the Throne. We do not suggest that the Speech from the Throne is going to be passed until it really is.
[English]
Hon. John McKay: Then we wouldn't have the 48 hours' notice of his proposed amendment on Thursday.
The Chair: Yes, exactly.
[Translation]
Mr. Yvan Loubier: Very well. But I already tabled my motion last week.
The Chair: I'm talking about the subamendment.
Mr. Yvan Loubier: All right. I shall read my subamendment. In this way the 48-hour notice will be respected. The motion read as follows:
| That the finance committee mandate four specialists in budgetary estimates, want political party to provide quarterly estimates on the federal government's revenues, expenditures and surpluses and to take a critical look at the figures provided by the department in these regards, such special group to be accountable only to the finance committee and paid by it. |
My subamendment would add this:
| This group will carry out its mandate until such time as the committee proposes, with regard to the order of reference resulting from the Speech from the Throne, recommendations concerning independent financial advice with regard to budgetary estimates. |
This establishes a direct link with yesterday's amendment.
[English]
The Chair: So we're okay for Thursday at 9:30?
Hon. John McKay: That's within the notice period.
The Chair: Unless we get the finance minister, the notice is for 9:30 Thursday morning.
Mr. Charles Hubbard (Miramichi, Lib.): To be clear, if the finance minister comes it will take precedence over Mr. Loubier's--
The Chair: Yes. We'll find a way to accommodate everyone.
[Translation]
Mr. Yvan Loubier: Wait a minute, Mr. Chair. I was asking the committee permission to dispose of this motion before the minister's appearance. I think that everyone around the table agrees.
[English]
The Chair: If the finance minister does not come we are meeting at 9:30. If the finance minister decides to come we'll probably have the meeting at 9 to debate Mr. Loubier's motion. I didn't say we were not going to debate it. We are going to try to accommodate everyone.
Questions?
[Translation]
Mr. Yvan Loubier: That's fine.
[English]
Mr. Charlie Penson (Peace River, CPC): That's fine, Mr. Chair, except that we should nail down pretty quickly if the finance minister is going to be here. I mean, today is Tuesday.
The Chair: I agree.
Hon. John McKay: I have just put in a call to the office and all I know is that the following Tuesday is out because he is meeting with the finance ministers in the provinces. We're working on this Thursday or the following Thursday.
The Chair: Okay.
Tuesday we have David Dodge.
Mr. Charles Hubbard: Mr. Chair, with this, I would like some assurance from the committee that if the finance minister is scheduled to come at 9:30, he will be presenting at 9:30 and he will not be listening to an hour of someone else's--
The Chair: You will get the notice for the motion and you will get a notice for the finance minister, as you did this morning for the motion. We should have been addressing the motion at 10, but because we're a nice, friendly committee we decided to address it 15 minutes earlier.
Hon. John McKay: It will not be a problem, Charlie.
Mr. Charles Hubbard: In other words, Mr. Chair, there will be two separate meetings, because under the way our standing committees work, if some member has the floor he can talk forever.
We're not going to give you that long.
The Chair: Is there anything else?
The meeting is adjourned.