Proceedings of the Special Senate Committee on Aging
Issue 1 - Evidence
OTTAWA, Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Special Senate Committee on Aging met this day at 8:30 a.m., pursuant to rule 88 of the Rules of the Senate, to organize the activities of the committee.
[English]
Keli Hogan, Clerk of the Committee: Honourable senators, as clerk of your committee, it is my duty to preside over the election of the chair. I am ready to receive a motion to that effect.
Senator Keon: I nominate Senator Carstairs.
Ms. Hogan: Are there any other nominations?
It is moved by the Honourable Senator Keon that the Honourable Senator Carstairs do take the chair of this committee.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Ms. Hogan: I invite the Honourable Senator Carstairs to take the chair.
Senator Sharon Carstairs (Chair) in the chair.
The Chair: It is moved by the Honourable Senator Cordy that Senator Keon be deputy chair of this committee. Are there any further nominations?
The third motion has to do with the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure. It has been moved that the subcommittee on agenda and procedure be composed of the chair, the deputy chair and one other member; that 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.
Senator Mercer: I so move.
The Chair: Now we move to a motion to print the committee's proceedings. It is so moved by Senator Chaput.
The next motion is the authorization to hold meetings and to print evidence when quorum is not present. It is moved by Senator Cordy. All in agreement?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: It is moved by the Honourable Senator Chaput that the committee adopt the draft first report prepared in accordance with rule 104 of the Rules of the Senate. Agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: It is moved by the Honourable Senator Mercer that the committee ask the Library of Parliament to assign analysts to the committee; 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. Agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: The next motion deals with the authority to commit funds and certify accounts. It is moved by the Honourable Senator Cordy that pursuant to section 7, chapter 3:06 of the Senate Administrative Rules — do I need to read all this? No? Then it has been moved. Agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: It is moved by Senator Keon 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. Agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: It is moved by the Honourable Senator Mercer that the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be authorized to designate members travelling on committee business. Agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: It is moved by the Honourable Senator Chaput that the committee may reimburse reasonable travelling and living expenses for witnesses. Agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: The time slot for regular meetings is 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Mondays.
Honourable senators, I just want to give you a brief update of where I plan to go in the next couple of weeks. I do have a timeline.
Obviously, this is the organizational meeting. I want an agreement from all of you that we will now request the final translation and comparative read of the text of the draft report. Is that agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: My plan is to send this report to translation. I suspect the translation department will need at least a week to do their work and then Ms. Hogan will need time to prepare the formatting of the report. It is my expectation that we should be able to distribute the report to your offices on or about February 24.
I would like to hold a meeting on March 2, which will give members of the committee a week to read the report. We would come back on March 2 to do our examination. Honourable senators, I am going to suggest that you come to that meeting with any editing or corrections you want to make, and give them to Ms. Hogan. Our clerk will incorporate those changes. There is no point in discussing those items. What we need to discuss at that meeting is the structure of the report, the recommendations that we make and so on.
Senator Mercer: Would we meet at the regular time of 12:30 p.m. on Monday March 2.
The Chair: Yes and the number of problems we have with the report will necessitate the number of follow-up meetings. At that point, we are in your hands as to what you want from the final recommendations.
You should know that Michelle and I did a lot of work over the summer to make sure it reflected your wishes. I am hopeful that when you see that report that it will reflect, for the most part, where you want to go. If it does not, then obviously that will necessitate a number of meetings.
Depending on where we are on March 2, we can determine how many more meetings we will require before we can distribute this report. We have a mandate to release it no later than April. I have to say I would like to release it sooner than that if we possibly can. I think most members would like to move on to other items; that is my wish as well. If we have a report that we like, then we may be able to move sooner rather than later.
We need a motion; I am going to do it for future meetings but we could pass it today. The motion reads as follows: That each committee member be allowed to have staff persons present at in camera meetings unless there is decision for a particular meeting to exclude all staff.
Is that agreed, honourable senators?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
(The committee adjourned.)