Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Aboriginal Peoples
Issue 1 - Evidence - Meeting of October 19, 2004
OTTAWA, Tuesday, October 19, 2004
The Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples met this day at 9:40 a.m., pursuant to rule 88 of the Rules of the Senate, to organize the activities of the committee.
[English]
Ms. Gaétane Lemay, Clerk of the Committee: Good morning, senators. As the new clerk of the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, it is my duty to preside over the election of a chair of this committee. I am ready to receive a motion to that effect.
Senator St. Germain: I move Senator Sibbeston be the chair, Madam Clerk.
Ms. Lemay: Is there any other motion?
It is moved by the Honourable Senator St. Germain that the Honourable Senator Sibbeston do take the chair of this committee. Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Ms. Lemay: Carried. I would invite Senator Sibbeston to take the chair for the remainder of the meeting.
Senator Nick G. Sibbeston (Chairman) in the chair.
The Chairman: I am honoured and will do my very best to be a good chairman for the next four years.
Members have a proposed agenda, which has a list of motions with which we ought to deal.
The next motion is the election of deputy chair. Is there a mover to have someone appointed deputy chair?
Senator Gustafson: I so move.
The Chairman: It is moved by Senator Gustafson that Senator St. Germain be deputy chairman of this committee. Are there any other motions?
If not, are honourable senators prepared to vote on the motion? Is everybody in favour of the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is adopted.
The next matter deals with a Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure. Members will see the motion is to have one other member of the committee designated as part of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure. The motion does not name the member, but leaves it open for consultation. Eventually, someone will be appointed as part of a small committee that will be dealing with organization and so forth. Is there a mover?
Senator Léger: I so move.
The Chairman: Senator Léger so moves. Is the motion adopted?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is adopted.
Next is a motion to print the committee's proceedings. Is there a mover of this motion?
Senator St. Germain: I so move.
The Chairman: It was moved by Senator St. Germain.
Is the motion adopted?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is adopted.
Next is a motion to authorize the holding of meetings and the printing of evidence when a quorum is not present. Members will know that this is in the event that we have invited witnesses, and even if there are very few members present — but at least one from the government and one from the opposition — the witnesses can be heard.
Senator Gustafson: I so move.
The Chairman: It is moved by Senator Gustafson. Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is adopted.
Next is the financial report. Is there a mover for this motion?
Senator St. Germain: This is the first report here that was presented to us. Are these expenses as a result of the Westbank bill?
Ms. Lemay: Most of the expenses that appear on that report are from the hearings on the proposed Westbank legislation.
Senator St. Germain: I so move.
The Chairman: Is the motion carried?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is adopted.
The next matter deals with research staff. I would point out that we have here Lisa Patterson from the library research staff, who has been assigned to our committee.
Are you a new member of staff?
Ms. Lisa Patterson, Library of Parliament: Yes. I joined the library in August. I will be passing out some information about the Library of Parliament research service.
The Chairman: Ms. Mary Hurley, who has been with our committee for a number of years, is not present. She was here earlier at an informal meeting we held with the staff. She may be back later. She will continue working as a researcher for our committee.
Is there a mover of the motion to have staff assigned to our committee?
Senator Léger: I so move.
The Chairman: Senator Léger moves the motion. All in favour?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is adopted.
The next motion is to deal with the authority to commit funds and to certify accounts.
Would you explain the basis of this motion, please?
Ms. Lemay: Basically, it is to give authority to the chair, the deputy chair and the clerk to sign off on contracts and bills, all within the boundaries of the budgets allowed by the Senate. I would say it is an accountancy type of motion.
The Chairman: Is it a standard clause in committees?
Ms. Lemay: It is standard. All committees work on that process.
Senator Pearson: I so move.
The Chairman: All those in favour?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is adopted.
The next item is a motion to authorize the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure to designate, as required, one or more members of the committee to travel on assignment on behalf of the committee. Is there a mover?
Senator Trenholme Counsell: I so move.
The Chairman: Senator Trenholme Counsell so moves. All in favour?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is carried.
Next is the designation of members travelling on committee business. The committee may occasionally travel, in the event that we do research for certain studies or deal with bills that require travel to other parts of the country. This motion would cover that eventuality. Ms. Lemay, would you like to say something about this?
Ms. Lemay: It gives the subcommittee the power to determine whether or not a committee member is on official business for the purpose of the attendance policy of the Senate. If a member, for example, is making a presentation in his or her province regarding the work of the committee, the subcommittee has the power to determine that the senator was on official business with regard to the attendance policy and would be considered present in the Senate.
The Chairman: Are members satisfied?
Senator Pearson: I so move.
The Chairman: It is moved by Senator Pearson. All in favour?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is adopted.
The next matter is travelling and living expenses of witnesses. Obviously, if we consider bills we will occasionally need to hear evidence. This item is to cover that.
Senator St. Germain: I so move.
The Chairman: It is moved by Senator St. Germain. All in favour?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is adopted.
The next item deals with the electronic media coverage of public meetings, authorizing the chair to seek permission from the Senate to permit coverage by electronic media.
Senator Trenholme Counsell: I so move.
The Chairman: Senator Trenholme Counsell so moves. All in favour?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is adopted.
The next matter is the time slot for regular meetings. The time slots that our committee has had in the past, and which we propose again, is Tuesday mornings at 9:30 and Wednesday evening. I believe it has been set at 6:15 p.m. We can continue with those slots for the time being, subject to change if the committee wishes at a later date.
Senator St. Germain: In consultation, you had suggested Wednesday at 5 p.m. Would it be proper to ask the clerk to find out whether that time slot would be acceptable? Would other members agree?
Senator Pearson: There is a problem for those of us on the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, which starts sitting at 4 p.m. The Social Affairs Committee starts at 4 p.m. as well.
Senator Gustafson: It is also a problem for the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry.
The Chairman: We may be affected by that. I suggest six o'clock then. We will meet on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. and Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Senator Gustafson: Tuesday at 9:30 is very difficult for me, because it means an extra day of travelling. It takes a whole day to get here. It would suit me if we were to meet later on in the day. With our numbers, it will be very difficult to cover all the committees.
The Chairman: We will consider your comments. Would it be agreeable, for the time being, to go with these times?
Senator St. Germain: We will check the possibilities of flexibility.
The Chairman: The clerk suggests that it this afternoon would be an appropriate time for me to report to the Senate.
Senator St. Germain: Yes, that is fine.
The Chairman: If it is agreeable, I will stand up in the Senate and table the report. Is that agreeable?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other matters that committee members wish to raise at this stage?
Senator Pearson: What is the potential legislative schedule?
The Chairman: I will ask the clerk to give us a rundown.
Ms. Lemay: I will ask the researcher, who is the most up to date in that regard. What legislation can we expect in this session?
Ms. Patterson: The bill that was prorogued was the First Nations Fiscal and Statistical Management Bill, Bill C-23. It was first called Bill C-19. That bill will possibly come back. In what form, of course, we do not know. The Tlicho land claim and self-government agreement is likely to be reintroduced in the House of Commons in the near future.
We have also heard that a matter dealing with Indian oil and gas money management might be coming this way. We do not know when.
Those are the primary matters that we are aware of at the moment.
Senator St. Germain: Will the first one be the fiscal and statistical management bill?
Ms. Patterson: The first one will be the Tlicho land claim agreement. The second one will probably be the fiscal and statistical management bill.
The Chairman: At a future meeting, when we have established what bills we will likely deal with, we can discuss whether we ought to undertake a study. Members can begin thinking about possible subjects for study. This will be determined, in part, by how many bills we have before us in the next few weeks and months.
Senator Pearson: It has been the practice of this committee, after we have done a study — such as the one on urban Aboriginal youth — to ask for a report or a follow-up on our recommendations from those to whom it was directed.
The Chairman: It will have been almost a year, I suppose, since that study was done. There were provisions to the effect that departments should respond with a certain time frame. We will be mindful of that and it may be one of the subjects to consider at a future meeting. As I said, if senators have any particular subjects they are interested in studying, please prepare an outline and advance it at a subsequent meeting. Please be prepared to defend it, in a sense.
Senator Pearson: For those who were not here at the time, when I was first a member of this committee we were undertaking a study of Aboriginal soldiers and what happened to them after the war. We came back to that subject on several occasions and we did cause things to move along. Having completed an intense study, it is appropriate to ask what is now being done.
The Chairman: Are there any other matters? If not, is there a motion to adjourn?
Senator St. Germain: I so move.
The Chairman: All in agreement?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The committee adjourned.