Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Issue No. 34 - Evidence - Meeting of November 22, 2017
OTTAWA, Wednesday, November 22, 2017
The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade met this day at 4:16 p.m., pursuant to rule 12-13 of the Rules of the Senate, to organize the activities of the committee.
[English]
Marie-Eve Belzile, Clerk of the Committee: Honourable senators, pursuant to the order of the Senate of November 7, 2017, there is a vacancy in the chair. As clerk of your committee, it is therefore my duty to preside over the election of the chair.
I am ready to receive a motion to that effect.
Senator Housakos: I move Senator Andreychuk.
Ms. Belzile: It is moved by the Honourable Senator Housakos that the Honourable Senator Andreychuk do take the chair of this committee.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Ms. Belzile: I invite Senator Andreychuk to take the chair.
Senator A. Raynell Andreychuk(Chair) in the chair.
The Chair: I twisted his arm twice to do it.
Thank you, senators, and thank you to the committee. I see a lot of regular members of this committee, so I think that will bode well that we’re well initiated in the work and can just continue where we left off.
I want to thank the members who have left the committee. We will do so, I think, in a more formal way. Some have joined other committees, but I want to thank you for the confidence. I hope that we can move forward and be a very productive committee.
I’m now ready to proceed with the motion to receive a nomination for a deputy chair.
Senator Greene: It is my pleasure to nominate Senator Anne Cools.
Senator Ngo: She is not here.
The Chair: I had been travelling on the Finance Committee with Senator Cools. I suggested to the clerk that she contact the ISG office and get word from Senator Cools’ office that she is prepared to accept.
Did we hear?
Ms. Belzile: Yes, Senator Cools accepted the deputy chairmanship of this committee.
The Chair: Any other questions?
Are we ready to agree that Senator Cools shall be the deputy chair?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: The subcommittee of this committee will be made up of a chair, a deputy chair and one other member of the committee. It is to be designated after the usual consultation. However, there has been a discussion and agreement between all groups in the Senate, and it is understood and agreed by all ISG, Conservative and independent Liberals that the third member will be from the independent Liberals. I’ve had that consultation, so I don’t think we need to delay for another week to do that.
I’m ready to get an indication from two of our independent Liberals as to who shall be on the steering committee.
Senator Cordy: I’ll nominate Senator Dawson.
Senator Dawson: I’ll accept as long as I’m not paid.
The Chair: Sir, you will pay dearly.
Senator Saint-Germain: I want to put on the record that double-dipping is not possible; it’s part of the negotiations. The senators that chair a committee and deputy chair another committee cannot receive two additional allowances.
Senator Dawson: I had already volunteered.
[Translation]
Senator Saint-Germain: I expected that from you.
[English]
It’s only to have it on the record for all senators.
The Chair: It has been one of those difficulties on the steering committees that the chair and the deputy chair have a remuneration, but the third person who generally works as hard does not. I thank you, Senator Saint-Germain, you were added to the committee and weren’t —
Is there an agreement that Senator Dawson will be the third member of the steering committee?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I think that is all the business we have today. As you know, we had agreed to a study on cultural diplomacy. You have the terms. I’m going to ask the clerk to send to all the new members the terms of reference. We have a substantial list of witnesses already compiled, but I’m going to ask all members to submit any other witnesses.
We have a substantial list from the cultural, arts and the education communities. What we were short of and were working on, as of two or three weeks ago when some of us self-destructed as chairs, was needing more from the foreign policy angle and looking at other countries and what they are doing with cultural diplomacy. I think the researchers and the clerk have been working on supplementing that list.
We’ll circulate it again for any more witnesses. Then the steering committee will come together to group the witnesses on panels so that we’re efficient with our time and get on with the study.
I will be calling, after meeting with the staff and the steering committee, to confirm where we go from here.
The word was that we wanted to meet with those that have a broad, general understanding of diplomacy and cultural diplomacy and foreign affairs. We had about five names on the list, none of whom were available this week and very few for next week. We’ll move as quickly as we can to start this study. We look forward to working together.
I see Senator Greene has been added to the committee, and I think that’s it. We’ve lost Senator Gold and gained Senator Greene. We’re still into the colour category; so we’re going to be fine.
Senator Saint-Germain: I want to suggest that for this study, which is close to being an investigation from the committee, we should consider the possibility of outreach to some communities. I’ve spoken about that with Senator Bovey, who is the initiator of this study, and I would encourage you to consider this possibility for this special study.
The Chair: I’m not sure what you mean by “outreach,” because we are trying to reach everyone. Are you saying we travel in the outreach?
Senator Saint-Germain: I’m saying that the formal hearings in the Senate would be appropriate for many witnesses but not for all witnesses and groups and associations we will have to listen to.
I would suggest, as well, that Senator Bovey is really qualified, experienced and an expert in that field and would be able to work very closely with the steering committee in the engineering of these hearings.
The Chair: We’ve been doing that. I think Senator Bovey would agree that she’s had a good relationship with the researchers and the clerk and myself.
I’m still not clear what you mean by “outreach.” What we’re asking you is to tell us all the witnesses, then the steering committee will see how we can put them together and, in fact, in some cases, ask for written submissions as opposed to appearances, depending on which group and what.
For example, reaching out to other countries, I would presume we would be able to get some written format of what they do and how they do it, whether it’s structural or otherwise. I think we can take that into account, but if you have a particular outreach that you’re looking for, then I’ve been relying on everyone who has been interested in the study giving us names and groups and concepts.
Senator Bovey: We have been getting more names, and many people have been sending them to me, and we have passed them on.
I would be very willing to take some time and take a look at how to group them, knowing many of these people, so that we can make sure we’re respectful of the time that people are putting in and that we’re respectful of the committee’s time. There are some that it will be easier for them to appear than write, and others that will be easier to write than appear. We can save a lot of time if you would be willing to let me take a look at that.
When it comes to the knowledge of Canada abroad, I have to tell you that the art form that is best known and best related to is the indigenous arts, particularly First Nations in Germany, the Inuit work, understanding that in France and in Scandinavia. As we get into this, it might be a very good idea to make sure that we are connecting north and west. I don’t think we need to go to Toronto or Montreal. I think they can come here. We know that those organizations do.
There’s a great deal of very quiet unknown outreach or work being done. We need to suss that out.
The Chair: That’s why we will contact all the members for their ideas of what we need to do in the study and actual names. There’s quite a bit going on with the Inuit community, and has been for a long time. I know, for example, in Kenya we were connected to Nunavut with artists who went to the carvers in Kenya. That was an initiative by the Canadian embassy in Kenya and funded through various pockets of funding within the Canadian government. That goes on quite a bit.
There’s also the Aboriginal education very much tied into South America. There are a lot of things we can do.
My job with the steering committee will be how we manage so many voices because they’re all going to think they are unique — and they are — but we are time-limited. How we put them together will be important, and we’ll certainly reach out to all of you for your suggestions.
Thank you. This will probably be the shortest meeting we’ll ever have. We’re adjourned until we call the next meeting, which will probably be next week.
(The committee adjourned.)