Heritage Committee - April 4 & 6 Meetings

First Meeting April 4th:
Liberals try to short circuit proceedings by instituting a 10 meeting limit on the discussion of M-103 mandates. David Henderson (Conservatives) successfully engineered an amendment to the original motion that now sees no limit on number of meetings to be held.

Summary of proceedings is below.

It was interesting to note that the Conservatives are putting Scott Reid, David Henderson and Garnett Genuis on this committee - a good sign given their previous debate performances.

Second meeting April 6th:
Nothing is available as it was held "in camera". In camera means a majority of committee members (read Liberals?) did not want the proceedings to be made public.

Minutes of Proceedings

Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage (CHPC)

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

Meeting No. 53

Tuesday, April 4, 2017, 4:14 p.m. to 5:25 p.m.

Room 315, Wellington Building, 197 Sparks Street

Presiding

Hon. Hedy Fry, Chair (Liberal)

Members of the Committee present

Liberal

Conservative

NDP

Pierre Nantel

Acting Members present

• David Anderson for Hon. Peter Van Loan (Conservative)

• Michel Picard for Pierre Breton (Liberal)

• Scott Reid for Larry Maguire (Conservative)

Associate Members present

• Garnett Genuis (Conservative)

• Stéphane Lauzon (Liberal)

Other Members present

• Sean Casey (Liberal)

• Arif Virani (Liberal)

In attendance

Library of Parliament

• Marion Ménard, Researcher

• Maxime-Olivier Thibodeau, Analyst

• Élise Hurtubise-Loranger, Analyst

Committee Business

The Committee proceeded to the consideration of matters related to Committee business.

Motion

Dan Vandal moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 108 (2) and in accordance with the resolution of the House agreed to on Thursday, March 23, 2017 which read:

That, in the opinion of the House, the government should: (a) recognize the need to quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear; (b) condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination and take note of House of Commons’ petition e-411 and the issues raised by it; and (c) request that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage undertake a study on how the government could (i) develop a whole-of-government approach to reducing or eliminating systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia, in Canada, while ensuring a community-centered focus with a holistic response through evidence-based policy-making, (ii) collect data to contextualize hate crime reports and to conduct needs assessments for impacted communities, and that the Committee should present its findings and recommendations to the House no later than 240 calendar days from the adoption of this motion, provided that in its report, the Committee should make recommendations that the government may use to better reflect the enshrined rights and freedoms in the Constitution Acts, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. (Private Members' Business M-103)

The Committee commence a study as requested in paragraph (c) of the motion referenced above; that the Committee devote a maximum of 10 meetings to the study, using extended hours as necessary; that the Committee schedule witnesses to appear such that it would complete gathering necessary evidence and give instructions to the Committee analysts to draft a report with the objective of reporting back to the House its findings and recommendations.

Debate arose thereon.

Amendment

David Anderson moved, — That the motion be amended by deleting the words “that the Committee devote a maximum of 10 meetings to the study, using extended hours as necessary”.

Debate arose thereon.

At 5:01 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 5:10 p.m., the sitting resumed.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of David Anderson and it was agreed to, by a show of hands: YEAS: 8; NAYS: 1.

After debate, the question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to, by a show of hands: YEAS: 9; NAYS: 0.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108 (2) and in accordance with the resolution of the House agreed to on Thursday, March 23, 2017 which read:

The Committee commence a study as requested in paragraph (c) of the motion referenced above; and that the Committee schedule witnesses to appear such that it would complete gathering necessary evidence and give instructions to the Committee analysts to draft a report with the objective of reporting back to the House its findings and recommendations.

On motion of Kevin Waugh, it was agreed, — That the Committee invite the Minister of Canadian Heritage to appear concerning the Main Estimates 2017-18, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, from noon to 1 p.m.

The Media and Local Communities

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the Committee on Tuesday, February 16, 2016, the Committee resumed its study of the media and local communities.

Motion

Kevin Waugh moved, — That further consideration of the report on the Media and Local Communites be postponed until the fall.

At 5:21 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 5:22 p.m., the sitting resumed in camera.

It was agreed, — That the Committee do now adjourn.

At 5:25 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.

Meeting summary originally posted on:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=8864278&Language=E&Mode=1