Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Transport and Communications
Issue 1 - Evidence - October 29, 2002
OTTAWA, Tuesday, October 29, 2002
The Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications met this day at 9:30 a.m., pursuant to rule 88 of the Rules of the Senate, to organize the activities of the committee.
Mr. Till Heyde, Clerk of the Committee: Honourable senators, as clerk of the committee, it is my pleasure to preside over the election of the chair. May I have a motion for the election of the chair?
Senator Johnson: I would nominate Senator Fraser for chair of the committee.
Mr. Heyde: Are there any other nominations?
It is moved by the Honourable Senator Johnson that the Honourable Senator Fraser take the chair of the committee. Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Mr. Heyde: The motion is carried. I invite Senator Fraser to take the chair.
Senator Joan Fraser (Chairman) in the Chair.
The Chairman: Thank you all very much. Last night I was reading the Senate's handbook for committee chairs and I was struck by the instruction that the chair is the servant of the committee. I quite like that. I am sure we will all work well together.
It is now my duty to call for nominations for the deputy chair.
Senator LaPierre: I nominate Senator Gustafson. Even though he is not here, I am sure he will accept. I will accept on his behalf.
The Chairman: Thank you. It is moved by Senator LaPierre that Senator Gustafson be the deputy chair of this committee. Are there any other nominations?
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Congratulations to Senator Gustafson in absentia.
I do not think this will be a surprise to him.
We can now move through the rest of the motions comparatively quickly. If it meets with your approval, I will not read them all verbatim.
Agenda item No. 3 requires a motion for the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure. As you know, the standard Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure, or the steering committee, consists of the chair, deputy chair and one other person. As drafted, this motion does not specify the name of that other person. I would like to keep it that way in case we need substitutions one day, but I should tell you, honourable senators, that it would be my intention that Senator Callbeck be the regular third member of the steering committee. She does travel sometimes from the Atlantic Provinces where travellers can be fogged in and such things. She has agreed to serve as the third member and, if we could take the motion as is, that would be splendid. Would anyone like to move that motion?
Senator Johnson: I so move.
The Chairman: It is moved by the Honourable Senator Johnson that the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be as discussed. Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Item No. 4 is the motion to print the committee's proceedings. Would anyone care to move this motion?
Senator Callbeck: I so move.
The Chairman: It is moved by the Honourable Senator Callbeck that the committee print its proceedings and the chair be authorized to set the number to meet demand. Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Item No. 5 is authorization to hold meetings and print evidence when a quorum is not present. Of course, this applies only to holding meetings and printing evidence, not to making decisions when a quorum is not present. Would someone care to move this?
Senator LaPierre: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Item No. 6 deals with the financial report. You should have a copy of the financial report that relates to committee's work in its previous incarnation. I understand that it is accurate. Does anyone have any comments on the financial report?
Would someone care to move a motion authorizing the chair to report these expenses?
Senator Phalen: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion related to research staff is a long motion, but the tenor is fairly clear. You should know that we will be carrying on with Joseph Dion and Terry Thomas who have been with the committee in the past, and that we will also be continuing to work with Martin Brennan, the independent researcher who has done very good work for the committee.
Although it not part of the motion, I would like to introduce my staff to those who do not know them, Céline Éthier is my assistant and Jasmine Solomonescu is our researcher, focussing in particular on communications. Our office number is 943-9556, and they are the people you should call if you have any problems or difficulties.
Could I have a motion related to research staff?
Senator Callbeck: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Item 8, relates to authority to commit funds and to certify accounts. This is the standard motion, as I understand it. Would anyone care to move?
Senator Johnson: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion related to travel is, again, a standard motion. If there are no questions, may I have a mover?
Senator Phalen: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The next item is the designation of members travelling on committee business. I am sure everyone understands this. It has to do with the Senate's attendance policy and certifying that someone is or is not on official committee business if they are not physically present here at some point. Any discussion?
Senator Callbeck: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is carried.
The next item is travelling and living expenses of witnesses. Again, it is the standard motion about repayment of expenses for witnesses.
Senator Phalen: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The next item is electronic media coverage of public meetings. Again, it is the standard motion allowing us to have TV coverage when we think it is appropriate. Is there any discussion on that?
Senator Johnson: I so move.
The Chairman: All in favour?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The time slot for regular meetings of this committee is Tuesdays at 9:30 and Wednesdays at 6:15 p.m. I do not think we need a motion on that.
Senator LaPierre, do you have a question?
Senator LaPierre: I wish to make an amendment with respect to what I consider to be a silly hour. I would like to move, and have the committee consider and accept that we meet on Wednesday at 5:00 or 5:15 p.m. I am of the opinion that 6:15 p.m. is an impossible time slot. We will not get out of here until 9:15. When we met at 5:30 p.m. last year it worked out much better than meeting at 6:15 p.m. I would like to move a motion to that effect, and I would like it to be acted upon such.
The Chairman: May I ask you to hold off on making a formal motion, Senator LaPierre? A number of this committee's members have conflicts with other committee schedules. We are busy examining that situation. I do not know why the time was changed from 5:00 to 6:15 p.m. My preference would be to sit at 5:00, as would be the preference of almost everyone.
I suspect some of the difficulty may have arisen as a result of conflicts with senators who have meetings at 3:30 p.m. or when the Senate rises on Wednesdays. Everyone wants this to work as well as possible. We will look very intensively at it in the next week. I would ask you to hold fire on that motion, Senator LaPierre.
Senator LaPierre: I would remind you that we were all asked about our preference before the end of the session. We were given three choices of committees, and the timetable was prepared so that conflict would not exist in the choices that we made. If the leadership, through its natural stupidity, has chosen to appoint people who are in a conflict situation, then that is their problem to unravel. It is not for the members of this committee to suffer as a result of that.
We were all told to be careful not to choose committees that were in conflict with one another. Some of us went to great lengths to do that, consequently, here we are. We may have to be penalized because of the stupidity of the leadership. Sooner or later, someone has to say that.
However, Mr. Chairman, since this is your first request, I will honour it. It is probably the last one I will honour. However, a decision must be made before tomorrow.
The Chairman: Tomorrow might be a little rapid, Senator LaPierre. We will do our very best.
Senator Phalen: For the chair's information, I have a conflict with that time.
The Chairman: You have a conflict?
Senator Phalen: I have a meeting at 6:45 p.m. on the same evening. Last year we held meetings at 5:00, and there was time for me to run out of here and get to another meeting. However, if 6:15 p.m. is to be out sitting time, that will be out of the question.
The Chairman: We will do our level best to eliminate these difficulties.
Are there any other comments on time?
Senator Johnson: I am on a committee that meets at 7 p.m., so it is very difficult to make these arrangements so as to ensure that all committees do not run late into the evening.
I appreciate the situation, because I have sat on this committee for years when it has met at 7 p.m. and continued until 9:00 or 10 p.m. Sometimes it is not possible to eliminate all the conflicts. I am sure the chair will be back to us on this matter.
The Chairman: I will be, and as quickly as possible.
Are there any other comments on time? Clearly, we have serious problems.
Turning now to the item for other business, does anyone wish to raise other business? I do have such an item to raise but, be before we deal with that, does anyone else have such an item to raise?
Senator LaPierre: Are we going to be told what it is that we are going to do?
The Chairman: That relates to future business, which we will get to in a moment. I would suggest that we continue in camera.
Senator LaPierre: There is no item for future business on the agenda.
The Chairman: On my agenda there is such an item. I have a separate item for future business.
Senator LaPierre: Can we deal with future business before we deal with other business?
The Chairman: In a moment, if you do not mind.
Before we continue in camera, I would add the Senate now has facilities available to allow the broadcast of the audio feed of our public meetings over the Internet. If you are agreeable, senators, I would suggest that we adopt that as standard practice. It is just another way for the public to hear what Senate committees are doing. It would not change our operations in any way. Are honourable senators agreeable to that?
Senator Johnson: Yes, agreed.
The Chairman: Fine.
Senator LaPierre: On that topic, do we have a Web site? Do we have an active Web site or a dead Web site on which you only put up stuff?
The Chairman: I believe we have a one-way Web site for informational purposes. Perhaps the clerk could tell us the answer to that.
Mr. Heyde: The committee's Web site is basically the standard Web site. It fits into the standard Web site of Senate committees. It has information about upcoming and past meetings. The transcripts are available on the Web site. The Web site gives the members of the committee, and has links to their biographies and things of that nature.
Senator LaPierre: Does it do anything else?
Mr. Heyde: That is the bulk of the information.
If members wish, we can look at adding flexibility by indicating upcoming work and studies that the committee is undertaking.
The Chairman: Honourable senators, I propose we go into an in camera session.
The committee continued in camera.