44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 18, 2023 10:00AM
- May/18/23 10:11:59 a.m.
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Is that agreed?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
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- May/18/23 2:10:23 p.m.
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The hon. member for Scarborough—Rouge Park.
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- May/18/23 2:33:44 p.m.
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I am going to have to interrupt. We are starting to get noisy. It started off really well and I was impressed. I just want to make sure that we continue and that everybody is quiet so we can hear the answer.
The hon. minister, from the top, please.
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- May/18/23 2:54:40 p.m.
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I am sorry, but I want to make a brief comment.
I want to remind members of the House that we must refer to other members by their title or their riding name, not by a made-up title. I know that sometimes members can get really creative, but those are the rules.
The hon. Minister of Environment.
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- May/18/23 3:02:37 p.m.
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The hon. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
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- May/18/23 3:09:52 p.m.
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I wish to draw the attention of members to the presence in the gallery of the 2023 Killam Prize laureates, which are awarded to Canadian scholars who have distinguished themselves through sustained research, excellence in science and innovation. We have Pieter Cullis, Ajay Heble, Praveen Jain, Sarah Otto and Charles M. Morin.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear!
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- May/18/23 3:11:01 p.m.
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I do not believe there is unanimous consent. I know the member is surprised.
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- May/18/23 3:11:38 p.m.
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I will look at Hansard and come back to the House should I see it necessary.
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It being 3:10 p.m., pursuant to order made on Thursday, June 23, 2022, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the amendment to the motion at third reading stage of Bill C-21.
The question is on the amendment.
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- May/18/23 3:27:12 p.m.
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I declare the amendment defeated.
The next question is on the main motion.
If a member of a recognized party in the House wishes that the motion be carried or carried on division, or wishes to request a recorded division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair.
The hon. member for Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne.
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- May/18/23 3:39:37 p.m.
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I declare the motion carried.
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- May/18/23 3:40:17 p.m.
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Is there a standing order that has been contravened? If you can start with that and then prove why, that would be wonderful.
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- May/18/23 3:40:33 p.m.
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That is a good point to bring up. What the hon. member is saying is that we do not call each other names in this chamber, and I want to remind everyone not to call each other names. The use of the term he referred to, as far as I am concerned, is to call someone a name.
The hon. member has brought up a point that is very valid. Calling each other names does not lead to good debate. It is more a schoolyard type of action we do not want to have in the chamber. I want to remind both sides, for the rest of the very emotional debate that will be taking place tonight, or whatever debate we are having in the House, not to call each other names or make up names for each other. I am sure members do it with affection for each other, but it is not allowed in the chamber.
I thank the hon. member for Milton for bringing that up.
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- May/18/23 3:42:18 p.m.
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In consulting with the table, I understand that this normally has to be brought up before the results are announced. That is why the whips have the information, and they are supposed to get back to us with that, but what we are going to do is look into it and find out exactly what was there.
In future, if someone's photo was not clear, I would ask them to bring it up as soon as we stop, because once I stop, we usually go to the next step, which is asking for the results of the vote. That is normally when it would be brought up during the vote.
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- May/18/23 3:43:57 p.m.
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I thank the member. He said it much more eloquently than me.
I hear noise from the other side. I do not know if it is coming from the hallway or the lobby.
It seems to have stopped.
I wish to inform the House that because of the deferred recorded division, Government Orders will be extended by 26 minutes.
I believe we have the Thursday question.
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- May/18/23 3:47:36 p.m.
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Yes, we already said that we would look into it, and we will get back to the House with some kind of an answer on that.
The hon. Minister of Official Languages is rising.
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- May/18/23 3:49:06 p.m.
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All those opposed to the hon. minister's moving the motion please say nay. Agreed.
The House has now heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.
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I am now prepared to rule on the point of order raised yesterday, May 17, by the parliamentary secretary to the government House Leader regarding an amendment adopted by the Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs and International Development during the clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-281, an act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), the Broadcasting Act and the Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act.
The parliamentary secretary explained that the committee adopted an amendment to clause 2 of the bill that creates a new obligation on the minister to develop and maintain a government-wide international human rights strategy. According to the parliamentary secretary, this amendment proposes a new concept that exceeds the scope of the bill as adopted at second reading. The parliamentary secretary argued that, for this reason, the amendment in question should be struck from the bill as reported by the committee.
When this amendment was proposed at the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, the committee chair ruled the amendment inadmissible on the grounds that it was beyond the scope of the bill. The decision was challenged and overturned. The committee then debated the amendment and adopted it.
When considering legislation, the House and its committees are guided by specific procedural rules that have been long established. In relation to the scope of a bill, House of Commons Procedure and Practice, third edition, states the following on page 770:
An amendment to a bill that was referred to a committee after second reading is out of order if it is beyond the scope and principle of the bill.
Bill C-281 does amend several acts, and it does create certain new obligations on the minister in relation to human rights. However, after a close reading of the bill, the new responsibilities for the minister are limited to specific areas, including communicating with families of prisoners of conscience and producing formal responses to House and Senate committees.
After careful consideration, it is the opinion of the Chair that the amendment creates a new obligation requiring the designated minister to develop and maintain a government-wide international human rights strategy. The Chair of the committee correctly concluded that the amendment is beyond the scope of the bill, as it introduced a new concept not envisioned in the bill when it was adopted by the House at second reading.
When a committee considers a bill at clause-by-clause, the committee chair must ensure that the proceedings on the bill conform to the procedural rules governing the consideration of amendments to bills. This includes ensuring that the committee’s review of the bill falls within the scope and principle as established by the House at second reading.
When a committee fails to adhere to the will of the House as it pertains to bills, it oversteps its authority, as delegated to the committee by the House. Speaker Milliken said it well when, on May 11, 2010, at page 2650 of the Debates, he explained:
As has been frequently noted, the Speaker’s involvement in committee matters is limited except in cases where a committee has exceeded its authority. The adoption of amendments that are beyond the scope of a bill is such a case....
While some members may be of the opinion that a different bill, perhaps broader in scope, ought to have been introduced, I must base my decision on the bill that actually was introduced and approved by the House at second reading.
As such, the Chair rules the amendment adopted by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development null and void and orders that it no longer form part of the bill as reported by the committee. The Chair also orders a reprint of the bill at the earliest opportunity for use by the House in its consideration of subsequent stages of the bill. However, given that the House is scheduled to consider Bill C-281 at report stage later this day, so as not to disrupt the business currently before the House, report stage will proceed based on the version of the bill as reported back from committee, with the understanding that when the bill will be reprinted, the text of the inadmissible amendment in question, at clause 2, will not be included.
I thank members for their attention.
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