STANDING COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND SOCIAL POLICY

COMITÉ PERMANENT DE LA JUSTICE ET DES AFFAIRES SOCIALES

Tuesday 11 December 2001 Mardi 11 décembre 2001

RESCUING CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION ACT, 2001
LOI DE 2001
SUR LA DÉLIVRANCE DES ENFANTS
DE L'EXPLOITATION SEXUELLE


Tuesday 11 December 2001 Mardi 11 décembre 2001

The committee met at 1546 in committee room 1.

RESCUING CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION ACT, 2001
LOI DE 2001
SUR LA DÉLIVRANCE DES ENFANTS
DE L'EXPLOITATION SEXUELLE

Consideration of Bill 86, An Act to rescue children trapped in the misery of prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation and to amend the Highway Traffic Act / Projet de loi 86, Loi visant à délivrer les enfants prisonniers de la prostitution et d'autres formes d'exploitation sexuelle et modifiant le Code de la route.

The Chair (Mr Toby Barrett): Welcome everyone to this regular meeting of the standing committee on justice and social policy for December 11, 2001. I have an agenda before me.

Mr Peter Kormos (Niagara Centre): On a point of order, Mr Chair: The agenda is one that indicates that the subject matter of this afternoon's committee meeting is to be Bill 86. I put to you that in the House, at Orders of the Day, the government has called motion number 110, which is a time allocation motion, a procedural motion around Bill 30, which is an Attorney-General-sponsored bill dealing with justice matters. Standing order 69(d) prohibits this committee from hearing a similar policy matter while one is being considered in the House. I put to you that this committee is out of order, at least in terms of consideration of Bill 86 this afternoon.

The Chair: Further to that, I'll briefly read the standing order: "No bill shall be considered in any standing or select committee while any matter, including a procedural motion, relating to the same policy field is being considered in the House."

I'm open for suggestions.

Mr Kormos: I move adjournment of the committee.

Mr David Tilson (Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey): Mr Chairman, on the topic of Mr Kormos's point of order, I think we all agree that both Bill 30 and Bill 86 are important bills. Bill 30 and its predecessor have been around for some time. Bill 86 has been around for some time. Mr Bartolucci had a private member's bill that was similar and I think it had some hearings around the province. I understand Mr Kormos is quite right in his point of order. You can't deal with two matters at the same time, and obviously the reasons were given by the respective House leaders, that the critics and the parliamentary assistant can't be in two places at the same time. I understand that. However, the problem we have is that Bill 86 was set for yesterday and today's dates, which are the regular sittings of this committee. We can't, for example, ask that this matter be dealt with tomorrow or Thursday because they're not the days that are regularly scheduled for this committee. There's some standing order that says that.

So what I'm asking is for unanimous consent of the committee that the Liberal representatives, the NDP representatives and the Conservative representative approach our respective House leaders to ask that there be a consent resolution in the House that Bill 86 be continued on for the extra day that we had originally scheduled, which was today, at a time that would be agreed upon by the three House leaders.

The Chair: Before I deal with that issue, I go back to the motion that's before the committee, a motion to adjourn. I will put the question with respect to the motion from Mr Kormos to adjourn. All those in favour?

Mrs Tina R. Molinari (Thornhill): Point of order.

Mr Kormos: We're in the middle of a vote, Tina.

The Chair: All those in favour? Those against, raise your hands. That motion to adjourn is defeated.

Second, we have a request for unanimous consent from Mr Tilson.

Interjection.

The Chair: Oh, I see. I'm advised that unanimous consent is not required for members to go and consult with their House leaders. Is it the pleasure of the committee that we have a recess?

Mr Tilson: I'd like some indication from the other members of the committee as to whether they're prepared to go to their House leaders. Of course, we happen to have the NDP House leader staring at me right now. I would hope that he, as one, would agree that this matter be dealt with outside the regular scheduled days.

Mr Kormos: As a matter of fact, I do agree. I propose we come back January 14. The House can resume setting after a healthy Christmas holiday season and New Year's break and we can start dealing once again with this bill and a whole lot of other ones that have been stacked up by this government.

Mr Tilson: There you go, Mr Chairman. I guess I have my answer. Thank you very much. I would move adjournment of the committee.

The Chair: I'll put the question with respect to adjournment. I'm going to ask those who are in favour and those who are against. Those in favour of adjournment? Anyone against? I see none against. This committee is adjourned.

The committee adjourned at 1552.

CONTENTS

Tuesday 11 December 2001

Rescuing Children from Sexual Exploitation Act, 2001, Bill 86, Mr Young /
Loi de 2001 sur la délivrance des enfants de l'exploitation sexuelle,

projet de loi 86, M. Young J-709

STANDING COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND SOCIAL POLICY

Chair / Président

Mr Toby Barrett (Haldimand-Norfolk-Brant PC)

Vice-Chair / Vice-Président

Mr Carl DeFaria (Mississauga East / -Est PC)

Mr Toby Barrett (Haldimand-Norfolk-Brant PC)

Mr Marcel Beaubien (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex PC)

Mr Michael Bryant (St Paul's L)

Mr Carl DeFaria (Mississauga East / -Est PC)

Mr Garry J. Guzzo (Ottawa West-Nepean / Ottawa-Ouest-Nepean PC)

Mr Peter Kormos (Niagara Centre / -Centre ND)

Mrs Lyn McLeod (Thunder Bay-Atikokan L)

Mrs Tina R. Molinari (Thornhill PC)

Substitutions / Membres remplaçants

Mr Garfield Dunlop (Simcoe North / -Nord PC)

Mr David Tilson (Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey PC)

Clerk / Greffier

Mr Tom Prins

Staff / Personnel

Ms Catherine MacNaughton, legislative counsel