Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Aboriginal Peoples
Issue 1 - Evidence - Meeting of June 14, 2011
OTTAWA, Tuesday, June 14, 2011
The Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples met this day at 9:31 a.m., pursuant to rule 88 of the Rules of the Senate, to organize the activities of the committee.
[English]
Marcy Zlotnick, Clerk of the Committee: Good morning, honourable senators, and welcome back, and to Senator Meredith, welcome for the first time.
[Translation]
As clerk of the committee, it is my duty to preside over the election of the chair. I am now ready to receive a motion to that effect.
Senator Demers: I nominate Senator St. Germain.
[English]
Ms. Zlotnick: Are there any other nominations before we put that question? Seeing none, it is moved by the Honourable Senator Demers that the Honourable Senator St.Germain do take the chair of this committee. Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Ms. Zlotnick: I declare the motion carried, and I invite the Honourable Senator St.Germain to take the chair.
Senator Gerry St. Germain (Chair) in the chair.
[Translation]
The Chair: Thank you, Madam Clerk. We will now proceed to the election of the deputy chair.
[English]
The Chair: Do I have a mover?
Senator Campbell: I move that Senator Dyck be the deputy chair.
The Chair: It is moved by the Honourable Senator Campbell that the Honourable Senator Lillian Dyck be deputy chair of this committee.
Are you ready for the question? It is agreed that Senator Lillian Dyck be the deputy chair of the committee, colleagues?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Carried.
I need a motion to the effect:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be composed of the chair, the deputy chair, and one other member of the committee, to be designated after the usual consultation; and
That the subcommittee be empowered to make decisions on behalf of the committee with respect to its agenda, to invite witnesses, and to schedule hearings.
Do I have a mover for that motion? Senator Nancy Greene Raine.
Senator Munson: Who is on the subcommittee?
The Chair: It will be Senator Patterson.
The next item is the motion to publish the committee's proceedings.
Senator Campbell: So moved.
The Chair: It is moved by Senator Campbell:
That the committee publish its proceedings; and
That the chair be authorized to set the number of printed copies to meet demand.
It is agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Motion No. 5 is the authorization to hold meetings and to receive evidence when quorum is not present.
Senator Campbell: So moved.
The Chair: It is moved by Senator Campbell:
That, pursuant to rule 89, the chair be authorized to hold meetings, to receive and authorize the publication of the evidence when a quorum is not present, provided that a member of the committee from both the government and the opposition be present.
It is agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: The next item is the financial report.
Senator Meredith: So moved.
The Chair: Senator Meredith has moved:
That the committee adopt the draft first report, prepared in accordance with rule 104.
Senators, you have before you the first report. I will be tabling this. Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: The next item has to do with the research staff.
Senator Campbell: So moved.
The Chair: It is moved by Senator Campbell:
That the committee ask the Library of Parliament to assign analysts to the committee;
That the chair be authorized to seek authority from the Senate to engage the services of such counsel and technical, clerical, and other personnel as may be necessary for the purpose of the committee's examination and consideration of such bills, subject-matters of bills, and estimates as are referred to it;
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be authorized to retain the services of such experts as may be required by the work of the committee; and
That the chair, on behalf of the committee, direct the research staff in the preparation of studies, analyses, summaries, and draft reports.
Do you agree, honourable senators, with the motion moved by Senator Campbell, as read?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: The next item is the authority to commit funds and certify accounts.
Senator Meredith: So moved.
The Chair: It is moved by Senator Meredith:
That, pursuant to section 7, chapter 3:06 of the Senate Administrative Rules, authority to commit funds be conferred individually on the chair, the deputy chair, and the clerk of the committee;
That, pursuant to section 8, chapter 3:06 of the Senate Administrative Rules, authority for certifying accounts payable by the committee be conferred individually on the chair, the deputy chair, and the clerk of the committee; and
That, notwithstanding the foregoing, in cases related to consultants and personnel services, the authority to commit funds and certify accounts be conferred jointly on the chair and deputy chair.
There is one slight change to be made there in that it should be pursuant to section 8, chapter 3:08, as opposed to chapter 3:06, as I read. That was moved by Senator Meredith. Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: The next item is travel. It is moved by the Honourable Senator Demers:
That the committee empower the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure to designate, as required, one or more members of the committee, and/or such staff as may be necessary to travel on assignment on behalf of the committee.
Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: The motion is agreed upon.
The next item is the designation of members travelling on committee business. It is moved by Senator Raine:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be authorized to:
1) determine whether any members of the committee is on official business for the purpose of paragraph 8(3)(a) of the Senators Attendance Policy, published in the Journals of the Senate on Wednesday, June 3, 1998; and
2) consider any member of the committee to be on "official business" if that member is: (a) attending an event or meeting related to the work of the committee; or (b) making a presentation related to the work of the committee; and
That the subcommittee report at the earliest opportunity any decisions taken with respect to the designation of members of the committee travelling on committee business.
Is it agreed, honourable senators?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: The next item is travelling and living expenses of witness. It is moved by the Honourable Senator Munson:
That, pursuant to the Senate guidelines for witness expenses, the committee may reimburse reasonable travelling and living expenses for one witness from any one organization and payment will take place upon application, but that the chair be authorized to approve expenses for a second witness should there be exceptional circumstances.
Is it agreed, honourable senators?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: The next item is communications. It is moved by the Honourable Senator Raine:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be empowered to direct communications officer(s) assigned to the committee in the development of communications plans where appropriate and to request the services of the Senate Communications Directorate for the purpose of their development and implementation;
That the chair be authorized to seek permission from the Senate to permit coverage by electronic media of the committee's public proceedings with the least possible disruption of its hearings; and
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be empowered to allow such coverage at its discretion.
Is it agreed, honourable senators?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: The time slot for regular meetings, colleagues, will be Tuesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and Wednesdays from 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. I believe we will be in Room 160-S, the Aboriginal Committee Room, which is our regular meeting room.
Colleagues, is there any other business?
Senator Meredith, welcome to the committee, and if you need any assistance we have some real capable support staff. Marcy Zlotnick is our clerk. She is the boss. We also have with us Shauna Troniak, James Gauthier and last, but definitely not least, Tonina Simeone, who has been with us for a considerable period of time. These people are the boss of themselves. They work for the Library of Parliament and they are supplied to us as resource staff. They write our reports. They really make us look good, which is tough in my case but they have managed to do it. They provide us with the expert advice we need.
If you are experiencing certain challenges that you want dealt with over and above what your staff can provide, the best way to proceed is through the steering committee or the chair, and we will assist you in your deliberations.
Senator Meredith: Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.
The Chair: The committee also has a communications officer, Ceri Au. She does the entire advance communications work for us. If we produce studies or anything else, Ceri is the one who looks after our communications while we are on the road or here in Ottawa. She is another resource. If you want to know about the communications that take place with respect to the committee, she is very experienced and will provide you with that information.
Logically, we have interpreters with us this morning, of whom you are aware because you have been here for a while, and we have the reporters, who are really excellent. We have three here this morning. They are part of the team as well.
We will now have a steering committee meeting. I will have to move a motion in the Senate to reactivate the study we were conducting. We were actively doing an educational study on Aboriginal youth K to 12 on reserve. It is something that you heard about from the Prime Minister and the PMO. It was mentioned in the Speech from the Throne and in the budget. They have an expert panel on education going out there. We have been doing this study and are ahead of the curve like we always are on this committee. I will have to discuss this with the steering committee, but we are hoping to report later this year because we have been conducting this study since April2010. We should get a report out, unless we have another election.
If there is no other business, this meeting is adjourned to the call of the chair.
(The committee adjourned.)