Lysane Bolduc made a statement and, with Thomas von Schoenberg, answered questions.

Garnett Genuis gave notice of the following motion:

That the committee report to the House that it supports recommendations from Indigenous leaders for an audit of Indigenous procurement.

A point of order was raised as to the procedural acceptability of the proposed motion.

RULING BY THE CHAIR

Whereupon Francis Drouin appealed the decision of the Chair.

The question: “Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?” was put and the decision was overruled on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Kelly McCauley, John Nater, Garnett Genuis, Blake Desjarlais – 4;

NAYS: Valerie Bradford, Francis Drouin, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, James Maloney, Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Jean Yip – 6.

Questioning of the witnesses resumed.

Jean Yip gave notice of the following motion:

That given the committee received correspondence from the whistleblower who appeared before this committee on September 18th, 2024, as part of the committee’s study of the Auditor General’s report into Sustainable Development Technology Canada; given the whistleblower alludes to key evidence of a grave nature, that has yet to be presented to this committee; as part of its study into Sustainable Development Technology Canada, that the committee request the whistleblower send all evidence alluded to in their correspondence of September 23rd, 2024, within 14 business days of the adoption of this motion; that this include all records and evidence pertaining to their unfounded claims that the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, manipulated the findings of the McCarthy Tétrault review into SDTC, which was mandated by and submitted to the Department of Justice; and once the evidence has been provided to members in both official languages, that the committee hold no more than two in-camera meetings, to examine the evidence, at which time, it may decide to invite the whistleblower for further testimony at the committee.

Questioning of the witnesses resumed.

It was agreed, — That the proposed supplementary budget in the amount of $23,250, for the study of Report 6, Sustainable Development Technology Canada, of the 2024 Reports 5 to 7 of the Auditor General of Canada, be adopted.

It was agreed, — That the proposed supplementary budget in the amount of $1,500, for the study of Report 1, ArriveCAN, of the 2024 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada, be adopted.

Jean Yip moved, — That given the committee received correspondence from the whistleblower who appeared before this committee on September 18th, 2024, as part of the committee’s study of the Auditor General’s report into Sustainable Development Technology Canada; given the whistleblower alludes to key evidence of a grave nature, that has yet to be presented to this committee; as part of its study into Sustainable Development Technology Canada, that the committee request the whistleblower send all evidence alluded to in their correspondence of September 23rd, 2024, within 14 business days of the adoption of this motion; that this include all records and evidence pertaining to their unfounded claims that the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, manipulated the findings of the McCarthy Tétrault review into SDTC, which was mandated by and submitted to the Department of Justice; and once the evidence has been provided to members in both official languages, that the committee hold no more than two in-camera meetings, to examine the evidence, at which time, it may decide to invite the whistleblower for further testimony at the committee.

Debate arose thereon.