SELECT STANDING COMMITTEE ON PARLIAMENTARY REFORM, ETHICAL CONDUCT, STANDING ORDERS AND PRIVATE BILLS
2011 Legislative Session: Fourth Session, 39th Parliament
SELECT STANDING COMMITTEE ON PARLIAMENTARY REFORM, ETHICAL CONDUCT, STANDING ORDERS AND PRIVATE BILLS
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SELECT STANDING COMMITTEE ON PARLIAMENTARY REFORM, ETHICAL CONDUCT, STANDING ORDERS AND PRIVATE BILLS |
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012
11 a.m.
Douglas Fir Committee Room
Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C.
Present: Colin Hansen, MLA (Chair); Harry Lali, MLA (Deputy Chair); Donna Barnett, MLA; Bill Bennett, MLA; Jagrup Brar, MLA; Murray Coell, MLA; Mike Farnworth, MLA; Randy Hawes, MLA; Jenny Wai Ching Kwan, MLA; Norm Letnick, MLA
1. The Deputy Chair called the Committee to order at 11:05 a.m.
2. Resolved, that Colin Hansen, MLA, be elected Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct, Standing Orders and Private Bills (Randy Hawes, MLA).
3. Resolved, that the Committee meet in-camera to consider its terms of reference (Randy Hawes, MLA).
4. The Committee met in-camera from 11:10 a.m. to 11:24 a.m.
5. The Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair at 11:25 a.m.
| Colin Hansen, MLA Chair |
Kate Ryan-Lloyd |
The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012
Issue No. 4
ISSN 1703-2474 (Print)
ISSN 1703-2482 (Online)
CONTENTS |
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Page |
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Election of Chair |
17 |
Committee Terms of Reference |
17 |
Chair: |
* Colin Hansen (Vancouver-Quilchena BC Liberal) |
Deputy Chair: |
* Harry Lali (Fraser-Nicola NDP) |
Members: |
* Donna Barnett (Cariboo-Chilcotin BC Liberal) |
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* Bill Bennett (Kootenay East BC Liberal) |
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* Jagrup Brar (Surrey-Fleetwood NDP) |
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* Murray Coell (Saanich North and the Islands BC Liberal) |
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* Mike Farnworth (Port Coquitlam NDP) |
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* Randy Hawes (Abbotsford-Mission BC Liberal) |
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* Jenny Wai Ching Kwan (Vancouver–Mount Pleasant NDP) |
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* Norm Letnick (Kelowna–Lake Country BC Liberal) |
* denotes member present |
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Clerks: |
Kate Ryan-Lloyd |
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Susan Sourial |
Committee Staff: |
Byron Plant (Committee Research Analyst) |
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012
The committee met at 11:05 a.m.
[H. Lali in the chair.]
Election of Chair
H. Lali (Deputy Chair): I call this meeting to order. Our first order of business, actually, is to elect the Chair. Do we have a nomination for Chair?
R. Hawes: I move Colin Hansen.
H. Lali (Deputy Chair): All right. Colin Hansen has been nominated. Anybody else?
Question — all those in favour?
Motion approved.
[C. Hansen in the chair.]
H. Lali (Deputy Chair): We have a Chair — Mr. Hansen.
M. Farnworth: You beat your own election total in the last provincial election. You got 100 percent this time.
H. Lali (Deputy Chair): That was 13 seconds. Put it on the record. I was acting Chair for 13 seconds. There you go.
C. Hansen (Chair): Thank you very much, Harry, and thank you for your confidence in my chairmanship. I would now entertain a motion for the position of Deputy Chair of the committee.
Interjection.
C. Hansen (Chair): Oh, okay. I gather that we don't have to go through that formality because Harry is already the Deputy Chair of the committee, as previously selected. I thank you for that.
Committee Terms of Reference
C. Hansen (Chair): This undertaking to review the conflict of interest act really came to us at the request of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner. It's been more than ten years, I guess — going back to 1998, 1999 — that some of these issues were last addressed.
I think that for those of you who had a chance to read through some of the background information…. What I learned when I first had the opportunity to read through some of that history was that the work that was done by a committee of the Legislature in the late 1990s resulted in specific recommendations. I think very few of those recommendations have actually been implemented.
As I read through them, I think it's a good basis for us to look at in our deliberations and also to look at other issues, both those that have been brought forward by the conflict commissioner and others that we have that will come forward and that have surfaced over the years.
With that, I would certainly entertain any questions or discussions about the terms of reference that we have been presented with.
B. Bennett: Mr. Chair, I just had a question on that first page. It says: "In addition to the powers previously conferred upon said committee…." What would they be, the powers previously conferred upon the committee?
C. Hansen (Chair): I will defer to the Clerk.
K. Ryan-Lloyd (Deputy Clerk and Clerk of Committees): The reference to other powers conferred onto the committee are those powers that are typically granted to all select standing committees upon opening day of a new session. There is typically a pro forma motion made in the afternoon session whereby a committee is empowered to summon witnesses, to receive evidence and to report back to the House. Those are, essentially, standard powers of investigation inquiry that are common to all committees. It's just a recognition of that previous motion having been made in October 2011.
B. Bennett: Okay, thanks.
C. Hansen (Chair): Any other questions or issues?
I think with that, I will suggest that we go in camera so that we can have an informal discussion about how we can approach the task that we've been given. With that, we will terminate the formal part of our deliberations.
R. Hawes: I move that we move to in camera.
Motion approved.
The committee continued in camera from 11:10 a.m. to 11:24 a.m.
[C. Hansen in the chair.]
C. Hansen (Chair): Now I will entertain a motion that the committee adjourn. So moved by Donna, seconded by Jagrup.
Motion approved.
The committee adjourned at 11:25 a.m.
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