The committee met at 0903 in room 151.

Election of Chair

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Timothy Bryan): Good morning, honourable members. It is my duty to call upon you to elect a Chair. Are there any nominations? Ms. Skelly.

Ms. Donna Skelly: I would like to nominate Stephen Crawford.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Timothy Bryan): Are there any other nominations?

Does the member accept the nomination?

Mr. Stephen Crawford: I do.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Timothy Bryan): There being no further nominations, I declare the nominations closed and Mr. Crawford elected Chair of the committee.

Election of Vice-Chair

The Chair (Mr. Stephen Crawford): Good morning, honourable members. It is my duty to entertain a motion for Vice-Chair. Are there any motions?

Mr. Stan Cho: Yes. I move that Mr. Roberts be appointed Vice-Chair of the committee.

The Chair (Mr. Stephen Crawford): A motion has been moved by Mr. Cho. Is there any debate? Are members ready to vote? Shall the motion carry? All those in favour, please raise your hand. All those opposed? The motion is, accordingly, carried.

Congratulations.

Appointment of subcommittee

The Chair (Mr. Stephen Crawford): Are there any further motions?

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: I have a motion on the appointment of the subcommittee on committee business, a motion to be moved in this committee.

I move that a subcommittee on committee business be appointed to meet from time to time at the call of the Chair or at the request of any member thereof, to consider and report to the committee on the business of the committee;

That the presence of all members of the subcommittee is necessary to constitute a meeting; and

That the subcommittee be composed of the following members: the Chair as Chair, Mr. Downey and Ms. Shaw; and

That substitution be permitted on the subcommittee.

The Chair (Mr. Stephen Crawford): Is there any debate?

Ms. Donna Skelly: I have a question.

The Chair (Mr. Stephen Crawford): Yes.

Ms. Donna Skelly: May I have clarification on exactly what that means, please? Who can speak to that?

The Clerk pro tem (Mr. Eric Rennie): Hi; my name is Eric Rennie. I’m a committee Clerk here at the assembly. As per the standing orders, all of our standing committees appoint a subcommittee on committee business, which is a sub-body of the committee itself. The committee can delegate work to the subcommittee to consider and to bring back a report to the full committee.

For example, if the committee is going to be considering a piece of legislation, the committee can ask the subcommittee to decide how to proceed with consideration of that bill—for example, how to arrange for public hearings or how many days for clause-by-clause consideration of the bill. The subcommittee would then bring the report back to the committee and the committee would either adopt those decisions or not. It’s a subordinate group to the committee itself.

Ms. Donna Skelly: Through the Chair: Do the members of that subcommittee change throughout the term of this committee?

The Clerk pro tem (Mr. Eric Rennie): They may. Per a motion in the committee, a caucus may substitute another member for the subcommittee as well. If the subcommittee is considering certain business related to a policy field that another member of the caucus is more familiar with or is an expert in that area, then substitutions are permitted on the subcommittee.

Ms. Donna Skelly: Through the Chair, a follow-up question: Am I interpreting it that there is only one subcommittee currently and that the names that were mentioned are the members of that subcommittee?

The Clerk pro tem (Mr. Eric Rennie): That is correct.

Ms. Donna Skelly: Is that not an overwhelming burden in terms of workload for two people?

The Clerk pro tem (Mr. Eric Rennie): Each standing committee only has one subcommittee and the workload of the subcommittee varies, issue to issue and Parliament to Parliament. The subcommittee will meet at the pleasure of the members of the subcommittee or the Chair and only from time to time.

Ms. Donna Skelly: Through the Chair: How does the work of the subcommittee differ from the work of this committee?

The Clerk pro tem (Mr. Eric Rennie): Subcommittee meetings are held in closed session, in camera. They are more informal meetings for members to discuss how they may proceed with business in the committee.

Ms. Donna Skelly: Through the Chair: May members of this committee attend the subcommittee meetings?

The Clerk pro tem (Mr. Eric Rennie): Members of the committee may be invited to attend the subcommittee. But in order for the subcommittee to meet, as per the motion, it may be that it would only have to be the Chair as the Chair, the two members of the subcommittee and committee staff who will attend the meeting to constitute a meeting.

Ms. Donna Skelly: Thank you.

The Chair (Mr. Stephen Crawford): Are members ready to vote? All those in favour? Carried.

We will now be moving into a closed session for a briefing. We will be proceeding right now.

The committee continued in closed session at 0909.

 

 

 

STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

Chair / Président

Mr. Stephen Crawford (Oakville PC)

 

Vice-Chair / Vice-Président

Mr. Jeremy Roberts (Ottawa West–Nepean / Ottawa-Ouest–Nepean PC)

 

Mr. Ian Arthur (Kingston and the Islands / Kingston et les Îles ND)

Mr. Stan Cho (Willowdale PC)

Mr. Stephen Crawford (Oakville PC)

Mr. Doug Downey (Barrie–Springwater–Oro-Medonte PC)

Mr. Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong ND)

Mr. David Piccini (Northumberland–Peterborough South / Northumberland–Peterborough-Sud PC)

Mr. Jeremy Roberts (Ottawa West–Nepean / Ottawa-Ouest–Nepean PC)

Ms. Sandy Shaw (Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas / Hamilton-Ouest–Ancaster–Dundas ND)

Ms. Donna Skelly (Flamborough–Glanbrook PC)

 

Clerk / Greffier

Mr. Timothy Bryan

 

Clerk pro tem/ Greffier par intérim

Mr. Eric Rennie

 

Staff / Personnel

Mr. Nick Ruderman, research officer,
Research Services

Ms. Susan Viets, research officer,
Research Services