Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Fisheries and Oceans
Issue 1 - Evidence, April 27, 2006
OTTAWA, Thursday, April 27, 2006
The Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans met this day at 10:45 a.m., pursuant to rule 88 of the Rules of the Senate, to organize the activities of the committee.
Till Heyde, Clerk of the Committee: Honourable senators, a quorum of the committee is present.
As clerk of your committee, it is my duty to preside over the election of the chair. I am prepared to accept a motion on this item of business.
Senator Comeau: I move that the Honourable Bill Rompkey take the chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.
Mr. Heyde: Are there other nominations?
Seeing none, it is moved by the Honourable Senator Comeau that the Honourable Senator Rompkey, P.C., do take the chair of the committee.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Mr. Heyde: I declare the motion carried.
Senator Bill Rompkey (Chairman) in the chair.
The Chairman: Thank you, colleagues, for the confidence that you have reposed in me and the heavy burden of office that you have placed on my shoulders. I have big shoes to fill in following in the great footsteps of a man who has gone on now to be Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, which is a challenging job, as some of us know from experience.
I am looking forward to this committee, as you are, and I chose it out of a great interest and commitment. There are things that we have to do for the regions that we represent. Some of us are not in offices of great power but we can have an influence. I hope that we can exercise that influence to the greatest degree possible.
It is my duty to call now for the election of a deputy chair of the committee. I am ready to receive nominations.
Senator Hubley: I move that the Honourable Senator Johnson be elected deputy chair of the committee.
The Chairman: It is moved by the Honourable Senator Hubley that the Honourable Senator Johnson do take the deputy chair of the committee.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The motion is carried and Senator Johnson is deputy chair of the committee.
This gives us two people with great knowledge of Newfoundland and Labrador on the steering committee.
The next item is on the subcommittee on agenda and procedure. We need a motion that we have such a committee, although we do not need to compose it today.
Senator Cowan: I so move.
The Chairman: All in favour?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Motion number 4 is that we print the committee's proceedings.
Senator Hubley: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it agreed, honourable senators?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Motion number 5 is the authorization to hold meetings and print evidence.
Senator Adams: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it agreed, honourable senators?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Motion number 6 is that the committee adopt the draft first report prepared in accordance with rule 104 of the Rules of the Senate.
Senator Baker: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Motion number 7 is that the committee ask the Library of Parliament to assign researchers and analysts. I believe that it has been the practice of Senator Comeau, which I would like to continue, to insert the name of Claude Emery, who has been diligent, effective, outstanding, and underpaid in all of his endeavours, into the motion.
Senator Comeau: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it agreed, honourable senators?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The overall motion is 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; and that the subcommittee on agenda and procedure be authorized to retain the services of such experts as may be required; and that the chair direct the research staff.
Senator Comeau: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it agreed, honourable senators?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The next motion is the authority to commit funds and certify accounts, pursuant to section 32 of the Financial Administration Act and section 7, chapter 3:06 of the Senate Administrative Rules.
Senator Cowan: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it agreed, honourable senators?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Motion number 9 deals with who travels where and when.
Do I have a motion for that?
Senator Adams: I so move, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman: Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Motion number 10 deals with the designation of members travelling on committee business such that a senator is deemed present in the chamber at such times.
Senator Forrestall: Could we go back to motion number 9? The absolute control of the government's agenda is one thing, but the absolute control of this committee's agenda is another. Are you saying, Mr. Chairman, that the steering committee will indicate who will travel?
The Chairman: Motion number 9 says that the committee empowers 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.
As I understand it, Senator Forrestall, that would occur from time to time. Obviously, we travel as a committee, but from time to time, we might want to designate individual members to do some research on a certain item or a certain project — a fact-finding mission, with which you might be familiar from your longstanding committee work. That is the intent behind the motion, as I understand it. It is not to select members of the committee exclusively to travel, but rather to designate, from time to time as warranted, a couple of people to research a certain project for the committee — a fact-finding mission — and then to report back. That is the intent.
Senator Forrestall: I am not sure, Mr. Chairman, whether that goes as far as my thinking is taking me on this. For such a purpose, that is an acceptable response.
The Chairman: Always bear in mind that the steering committee cannot act without the approval of the committee as a whole.
Senator Forrestall: It is apparent from a quick glance around the room that he who controls the steering committee controls the agenda, and thus controls this committee. There is no question in our minds about that. We could have a good fight about it once in a while when we want to delay things; however, I hope that will never happen. On the other hand, you will appreciate that while we may not be able to control the agenda, we want to know the thinking of the opposition, because in this case, although we remain the government, we are pretty weak in numbers.
The Chairman: I appreciate that. I would like to say I have not been on the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans before. I was parliamentary secretary to Jack Davis in 1972 and I served on the House of Commons Fisheries Committee, but I have not served on this committee. However, I am told that this was, perhaps, one of the least partisan of the committees of the Senate and we operated on that basis. I know that was the way Senator Comeau approached it, and I can assure all of us that it is the way that I intend to approach it.
We are here because of resources that are important to all of us and to make whatever contribution we can to the exploitation and protection of those resources. I would like to say that, Senator Forrestall, because that should underpin all of our decisions. I want to assure you that the motion was not for the exercise of power but simply for expediency.
Senator Forrestall: That is fine.
The Chairman: Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Motion number 10, as I said before, is the designation of members travelling on committee business as deemed to be present in the chamber for the purposes of attendance.
Senator Forrestall: That is long overdue. I so move, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman: Is it agreed, honourable senators?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The next item deals with travelling expenses of witnesses. It is a straightforward item. There is a budget for witnesses now in the Senate. It does not come out of our budget. This gives us the authority to call witnesses and to reimburse them for their expenses. Do I have a motion?
Senator Hubley: I so move, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman: Is it agreed, honourable senators?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Electronic coverage — from time to time we may want to get on TV and this gives us the option to do that if we so desire. Some of us, like Senator Baker, do not need the exposure, but the rest of us need it badly.
Do you want to move that, Senator Baker?
Senator Baker: I so move.
The Chairman: Is it agreed, honourable senators?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Senator Forrestall: I understand from the former distinguished chair of this committee that that would include video conferencing.
The Chairman: Yes.
Regarding the time slots for regular meetings, if it is agreed, we will use this current time slot. If we need another meeting, we would have it on Tuesday, when the Senate rises but not before 5 p.m.
Senator Comeau had the practice of meeting at 7 p.m. rather than 5 p.m. Is that a good idea?
Senator Comeau: That is a good time because Tuesdays tend to run late in the chamber and it caused some problems with witnesses. We found that 7 p.m. was an extremely good time.
Senator Forrestall: Could we amend it to —
The Chairman: As necessary.
Senator Forrestall: Could I have a further amendment that we meet here in this room permanently?
The Chairman: Do you like this room?
Senator Forrestall: I like it very much.
The Chairman: Does everyone like this room? The problem is we cannot have TV in this room.
Senator Comeau: That was the point I wished to raise. If we wish to have televised hearings — and it happens often; you will be surprised — this room is not equipped for television. We had access to the Aboriginal room, which is rather large, but that room is convenient for everybody and it does have access to TV.
The Chairman: There are two options: either we look for another room or we continue to meet in this room and have the clerk look for another room as needed for TV purposes.
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Senator Forrestall likes this room and I go out of my way to accommodate Senator Forrestall. For one thing, he is bigger than I am.
Therefore, we will have meetings in this room unless we need another room for TV, in which case the clerk will find it. We do not need a motion; we just need to discuss that. We are agreed that this is our regular time slot, with Tuesday in addition, if we need it.
Senator Hubley: Tuesday is the regular time slot.
The Chairman: No, Thursday at 10:45 a.m. is the regular time, and Tuesday is the optional one.
Senator Comeau: We may have to advise the whips to clarify the 7 p.m. meeting. That might need consultation with the two whips. I will speak to the whip on the government side and you might speak to the whip on the opposition side.
The Chairman: I will.
Senator Comeau: They may not even change the time slot officially, but it did seem to work with the whips.
Senator Baker: Mr. Chairman, in the event that the committee gets into a subject area that is highly controversial and of interest to the media and the people of the nation, am I correct in concluding that we could change that, if need be, by a majority vote of the committee? If we wish to have our meetings only in televised rooms, then we could change the decision that we are making right now?
The Chairman: The committee can do anything it wants to.
Senator Baker: Hear, hear!
Senator Forrestall: As I have been so guilty as to presume you would meet across the hall from my office, it is asking too much to complain about it.
The Chairman: I see, all right; on to other business. What I would like to do today for a few moments — Do we need to go in camera, then?
Senator Baker: Why do we need to?
The Chairman: We do not get transcription in camera. It eases the burden on —
Senator Comeau: It is much easier to have a freewheeling discussion.
The Chairman: Is it agreed we go in camera?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Senators' staff to stay is all right with me; does everyone agree?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The committee continued in camera.