RNNR Committee Meeting

    Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum. Pursuant to Standing Order 106(3)(a), as the clerk of the committee, I will preside over the election of the chair and the vice-chairs.

     I must inform members that the clerk of the committee can only receive motions for the election of the chair. The clerk cannot receive other types of motions, entertain points of order or participate in debate.

    We can now proceed to the election of the chair. Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the chair must be a member of the government party.

     I am ready to receive motions for the chair.

    Mr. Hogan.

     I nominate Terry Duguid for chair.

    Are there any further motions?

    Seeing none, I will now put the motion to the committee.

    (Motion agreed to)

    The Clerk: I declare the motion carried and Mr. Duguid duly elected chair of the committee. I invite the chair to take the chair.

    Some hon. members: Hear, hear!

     That's probably the last applause I'll get.

    Thank you, colleagues. Let me start by acknowledging that we are on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe.

    Before we continue, I would ask all in-person participants to consult the guidelines written on the cards on the table. These measures are in place to help prevent audio and feedback incidents and to protect the health and safety of all participants, especially our amazing interpreters. You will notice a QR code on the card, which links to a short awareness video.

    If the committee is in agreement, I would like to invite the clerk to introduce herself.

    Are the analysts coming?

    We're waiting for routine motions.

     Okay. The analysts will introduce themselves at the appropriate time.

     I invite the clerk to proceed with the election of the vice-chairs.

    Thank you, Mr. Chair.

    I'm Geneviève Dubois-Richard. I'm the clerk of the committee.

     Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the first vice-chair must be a member of the official opposition.

    I am now prepared to receive motions for the first vice-chair.

    Mr. Tochor.

     Thank you, Clerk, and thank you, Chair.

    It is my distinct honour and privilege to nominate my friend, the very formidable Shannon Stubbs, as our vice-chair.

    Okay.

    Are there any further motions?

    Seeing none, it has been moved by Mr. Tochor that Mrs. Stubbs be elected as first vice-chair of the committee.

     I will now put the motion to the committee.

    (Motion agreed to)

    The Clerk: I declare the motion carried and Mrs. Stubbs duly elected as first vice-chair of the committee.

    Some hon. members: Hear, hear!

    The Clerk: We'll continue.

    Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the second vice-chair must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition.

    I am now prepared to receive motions for the second vice-chair.

    I nominate Mario Simard for the position of second vice-chair.

    It has been moved by Mr. Guay that Mr. Simard be elected as second vice-chair of the committee. Are there any further motions?

    I will now put the motion to the committee. It has been moved by Mr. Guay that Mr. Simard be elected as second vice-chair of the committee. Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

    (Motion agreed to)

    I declare the motion carried and Mr. Simard duly elected second vice-chair of the committee.

    Some hon. members: Hear, hear!

     Congratulations to our vice-chairs.

    Welcome to the natural resources committee. It's an honour to be your chair, and I look forward to working with all of you in the weeks and months ahead.

    I understand that this has been a very exciting committee in the past, and we all expect no less in the coming session. We're wrestling with some of the big issues of our time. There are going to be differences and there will be consensus on some items, but I know there will be great respect shown around the table. There will certainly be that by me.

    Madam Clerk, I believe we may now proceed with the adoption of this committee's routine motions.

    They have been circulated to you. I know that this has happened in other committees. There have been discussions among the parties in advance of the various committee meetings. If everyone has read them and there are no issues, I would entertain a UC motion.

     Yes, Chair. I'd like to move the routine motions into the record and adopt them for our committee.

    Thank you, Mr. Tochor.

    Is everyone in agreement? I don't think we need a vote. I see unanimous consent around the table.

    (Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

    The Chair: Thank you, colleagues. It's a great way to start our committee.

    Go ahead, Mr. Guay.

    Mr. Chair, given that there is no other business before the committee, I move adjournment of the meeting.

    You've heard the motion.

    I'm told that there's no translation. We need to hear the interpretation. Are we good now?

    Go ahead, Mr. Guay.

    Mr. Chair, given that there is no other business before the committee, I move adjournment of the meeting.

     That's a non-debatable motion and—

    On a point of order, we have no translation.

    Let's suspend for a moment and get translation.

    Colleagues, I was remiss in not inviting our analyst, whom we will be working with over the next while. I think we all know how valuable they are in taking our thoughts and recommendations and turning them into prose.

    I'll ask the analyst to introduce herself.

    Good morning. My name is Aimée Belmore.

    I'm here for all of your information needs for the committee, and I will be happy to help you—

    Chair, I'd like to make a comment when you're done.

    Please continue.

    I'm here for all of your information needs. Please let me know how I can assist you.

     The motion will be—

    Chair, I would contest that, because we missed an important part of the meeting that you said we were going to do before the motion to adjournment was made. Obviously, we're moving backward in the agenda. That motion wouldn't count, and I've asked to speak.

    I'd like to welcome the analyst, because I have worked with her frequently over the years in natural resources. She is an exceptional, unbiased, objective and expert assistant in every committee on which I've had the pleasure to work with her.

    It seems to me that, since the agenda seems to be new, this motion wouldn't be valid, because we missed part of the meeting.

    In the course of my comments, I would like to move a motion that wasn't on notice, but since we haven't met before, this is, of course, my first opportunity.

    It is:

    A point of order, Mr. Chair.

    I'm sorry, but there's already a motion on the table that we haven't voted on. Before we move on to another motion, we need to deal with Mr. Guay's motion, which you recognized.

    Yes, we'll move to Mr. Guay's motion.

    I have a point of order, Chair.

     This is our first opportunity to meet on such an important file as natural resources, with all the hurt that is happening from coast to coast in our country.

    Chair, in your opening remarks, you spoke of respect. I would hope that you would show respect to our colleague, who is trying to bring forward a motion that is in order. It is the first opportunity to present it because the committee has been stood up for this important subject matter. The first opportunity to set the right tone for this Parliament would be to give our colleague the opportunity to at least read the motion. I think there might be some people around the table who might be surprised that they will be in support of the motion.

    Thank you.

    A point of order, Mr. Chair.

    Committees operate according to rules. You gave Mr. Guay the floor, and he moved a motion to adjourn. That means we have to vote, after which we will govern ourselves accordingly.

    We can't change committee rules as we please.

     I agree with Mr. Simard. We will go to a vote.

    (Motion agreed to: yeas 5; nays 4)

    The Chair: Colleagues, thank you. I look forward to working with you come this fall.

    Have a great summer. I wish you all the best.