Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Social Affairs, Science and Technology
Issue 1 - Evidence
OTTAWA, Thursday, October 14, 2004
The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology met this day at 9:06 a.m., pursuant to rule 88 of the Rules of the Senate, to organize the activities of the committee.
[English]
Ms. Josée Thérien, Clerk of the Committee: Honourable senators, we have a quorum.
As clerk of your committee, it is my duty to preside over the election of the chair. I am ready to receive nominations to that effect.
Senator Morin: I move that Senator Michael Kirby be chair of the committee.
Ms. Thérien: It is moved by Honourable Senator Morin that the Honourable Senator Kirby be chair of this committee. Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
[Translation]
I declare the motion carried and, in conformity with rule 88, the Honorable Senator Kirby duly elected Chair of the committee.
I invite the Honorable Senator Kirby to take the chair.
[English]
Senator Michael Kirby (Chairman) in the chair.
The Chairman: Honourable senators, I now need a motion to elect the deputy chair.
Senator Morin: I move that Senator Keon be deputy chair.
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: I now need a motion to name the third person to the steering committee, which around here is formally called the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure.
Senator Keon: I move that Senator Morin be the third member of the committee, and I do not think things are nepotistic here.
The Chairman: He is leaving at the end of November. He still has to stay on.
The steering committee has always met with four committee members. It would be my intention to invite Senator LeBreton to come to all of the meetings, if and when we need to hold them.
We now have a series formal motions to go through starting with Motion No. 4, which is a motion to print the committee's proceedings.
Senator Pépin: I so move.
The Chairman: Motion No. 5 is the authorization to hold meetings and to print evidence when a quorum is not present.
Senator Pépin: I so move.
The Chairman: Next is the financial report. We need a motion that the committee adopt the report dealing with expenses incurred during the last session pursuant to rule 104. May I have a motion?
Senator Callbeck: I so move.
The Chairman: I will give you the simple version of the next motion, which is that we get our researchers back because we cannot work without them.
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: We also need a motion that allows the steering committee to retain the services of such experts as may be required.
The next item is Motion No. 8, which, pursuant to section 32, allows us to spend money consistent with the Senate guidelines.
Senator Pépin: I so move.
The Chairman: Motion No. 9 is the one that allows Senator Keon and myself to authorize people to travel on behalf of the committee. It is not something we have ever really used.
Motion No. 10 is standard. It is important and I will comment on it. It allows Senator Keon and myself, on behalf of the committee, to recognize when a senator is away on official business. This is not new. Some committee members will recall that three or four years ago a senator was either in the chamber or on public business. Then a new category called official business was created so that when a senator is away doing work directly related to the Senate, from an attendance standpoint that work is counted the same way as if the senator were in the chamber.
I believe we will receive a number of requests to give speeches on the mental health report. On that score, I know some of you have used a set of overheads on mental health that I have used in the past. When I talked to Canadian Mental Health Association 10 days ago, I did a new set that is focused on issues and options. I am having that set translated and the clerk will circulate it to everyone.
There are 20-odd overheads that took me essentially 30 minutes to develop. They lead to a question and answer session. If any of you are asked to give a speech once the issues and options paper is out, you essentially have a speech. You do not need a text; you can add or subtract as you wish.
Motion No. 11 allows travelling and living expenses of witnesses, which is okay.
Motion No. 12 asks for blanket approval from the Senate to televise the proceedings when the steering committee decides it is a good idea. This business of having to go back to the Senate is crazy. As you know, we have had a huge amount of coverage, far more than other committees.
Motion No. 13 relates to the terms of reference for the mental health study that was approved by the Senate last Thursday. Effectively that gives us back the same terms of reference but with slightly changed dates.
Senator LeBreton: Did you say number 13?
The Chairman: Yes.
Senator LeBreton: We do not have that. Our copy reads, "Time slot for regular meetings."
The Chairman: It turns out that has already passed in the Senate. The version I was given some time ago assumed that the Senate had not already voted on it.
The last motion is for information. Our meeting times have not changed.
We have a draft budget for the current fiscal year. Last spring, when we talked about the budget for the current fiscal year, we agreed that as part of our cross-country hearings on the issues and options paper we would do the Montreal and Toronto pieces in the middle of winter and the four western provinces and the four Atlantic provinces when the weather was better and it was safer to travel. Therefore, that will be done in the next fiscal year.
Our intention, consistent with what we did during the previous health study, is to visit the capital of every province, although we may end up deciding to visit Calgary rather than Edmonton, Vancouver rather than Victoria, and Montreal rather than Quebec City. We will, however, visit every province. That will all be done next year.
Also as part of our plans for next year, it will be important for at least a small group of us, perhaps two or three, to go to each of the territories. There is a danger that they feel left out and a danger that because of their concentration of Aboriginal and Inuit population they have big problems. Again, we will not do that until the weather is nice.
That is basically what is in the budget, right?
Ms. Thérien: That is correct.
The Chairman: This year is Toronto and Montreal. If we have approval, I will put this draft to the members of Internal Economy.
That concludes our administrative business.
The committee continued in camera.