LANG 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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STANDING JOINT COMMITTEE ON OFFICIAL LANGUAGES
COMITÉ MIXTE PERMANENT DES LANGUES OFFICIELLES
EVIDENCE
[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]
Wednesday, October 21, 1998
• 1539
[English]
The Joint Clerk of the Committee (Ms. Miriam Burke): Honourable members, I see a quorum. Pursuant to Standing Order 106(1), your first item of business is to elect a joint chair representing the House of Commons. I'm ready to receive motions to that effect.
• 1540
Mr. Julian Reed (Halton, Lib.): It is my honour to place into nomination the name of Mrs. Finestone.
The Joint Clerk (Ms. Miriam Burke): Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the said motion?
(Motion agreed to)
The Joint Clerk (Ms. Miriam Burke): I declare Mrs. Finestone duly elected chair of the committee and invite her to take the chair.
The Joint Chair (Mrs. Sheila Finestone (Mount Royal, Lib.): Well, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, and my co-chair, Madame Losier-Cool, I'm really very pleased to be rejoining you in this challenging committee, actually a committee that reflects one of the fundamental values of Canada. In that light,
[Translation]
I think it's very important to ensure that Canada's laws are enforced and upheld everywhere, as we say in English,
[English]
from coast to coast to coast or from ocean to ocean to ocean—take your choice. It really is with a great deal of pleasure that I reassume this chair.
The next order of business is the election of two vice-chairmen. Standing Order 106(2) states:
-
Each standing or special committee shall
elect a Chairman and two Vice-Chairmen, of whom two shall be
Members of the government party—
Well, that's very interesting. You are supposed to elect two, and then it says you have to elect three. To continue:
-
—of whom two shall be Members of the
government party and the third a Member in opposition to
the government—
Ms. Val Meredith (South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, Ref.): I move that Inky Mark be nominated as a vice-chair.
[Translation]
The Joint Chair (Senator Rose-Marie Losier-Cool (Tracadie, Lib.)): Our first order of business is to elect the first vice Chair.
[English]
The Joint Chair (Mrs. Sheila Finestone): Thank you. Are there any other nominations?
Mr. Ted McWhinney (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.): I nominate Denis Paradis for vice-chair.
The Joint Chair (Mrs. Sheila Finestone): You can only have one motion on the floor at a time, so we will start with you, Mr. Mark.
[Translation]
Mr. Inky Mark (Dauphin—Swan River, Ref.): I'm sorry.
Mr. Ted McWhinney: Madam Chair, seniority is not an issue here.
The Joint Chair (Mrs. Sheila Finestone): That's what I thought.
Mr. Ted McWhinney: Does the first person elected vice-chair become the first vice-chair or do we decide that later?
The Joint Chair (Mrs. Sheila Finestone): Pursuant to the rules,
[English]
Director General, by the orders and rules, does the first nominated mean the first vice-chair? No. Okay. That's fine. Thank you very much.
My orders are over there. I just got instructions.
So the first motion is that Inky Mark will represent the opposition party at the table on the executive. Is it agreed?
(Motion agreed to)
The Joint Chair (Mrs. Sheila Finestone): Thank you.
The second nomination is for Mr. Denis Paradis. All in favour?
(Motion agreed to)
The Joint Chair (Mrs. Sheila Finestone): Very good. Thank you very much.
I think we are very lucky. Under routine motions we now have an executive committee.
[Translation]
An hon. member: How clever of us.
The Joint Chair (Mrs. Sheila Finestone): Yes indeed, we're clever. It's all for the benefit of our constituents.
[English]
Ladies and gentlemen, our meetings are generally on Tuesday afternoon. Next Tuesday I will be away. Notwithstanding that, there will be a meeting of the executive committee to look at an agenda proposal. So the following meeting you will ready to start with the witnesses.
I will advise you that the term of Dr. Victor Goldbloom is shortly coming to an end. I had hoped that we would be able to announce to you that he would be here today. He was able to come yesterday—he could not come today—and we had to move our meeting from yesterday to today. I hope it will be agreed by all of you that Dr. Goldbloom will be our first witness when we are reconvened as a full committee and that the executive committee will take that into consideration.
Mr. Ted McWhinney: Madam Chair, this committee will meet each Tuesday afternoon at what hour?
[Translation]
At 3:30 p.m.?
The Joint Chair (Senator Rose-Marie Losier-Cool): That's when the committee normally meets.
• 1545
[English]
The Joint Chair (Mrs. Sheila Finestone): I just want to point out that there is one further piece of business. It is that the committee authorize the chair, from time to time as the need arises, to take, in conjunction with the clerk of the committee, the appropriate measures to provide lunches for the committee and its subcommittees for working purposes, and that the cost of these lunches be charged to the budget of the committee.
It is moved by Mr. Marks and seconded by Mr. Paradis. All agreed?
(Motion agreed to)
The Joint Chair (Mrs. Sheila Finestone): Thank you very much. Do you have any preferences for lunch?
[Translation]
The Joint Chair (Senator Rose-Marie Losier-Cool): Only for the type of work we do.
[English]
The Joint Chair (Mrs. Sheila Finestone): In light of the fact that there is no future business at this moment, we're all excused for the balance of the week.
The meeting is adjourned.