| Q-8512 — June 18, 2021 — — With regard to the agreements entered into by the government signatories for procurement of COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, or vaccine candidates, that were provided to the House of Commons' Standing Committee on Health in June 2021: (a) did the government delay or defer its provision of the agreements to the committee for the purpose of providing a copy of each agreement to the committee simultaneously; (b) why were the provisions of the Access to Information Act used as the basis for determining which pieces of information to withhold from the committee; (c) which other standards were considered and rejected as the basis for determining which pieces of information to withhold from the committee; (d) did feedback from any of the counterparties influence which standards were used or rejected as the basis for determining which pieces of information to withhold from the committee and, if so, which counterparties provided such feedback and what was the feedback in summary; (e) for each agreement, after the effective date, (i) how many, on what dates, and under what authorities has the government received requests or orders for disclosure of the agreement, in whole or in part, (ii) on what date did the government signatory first engage the counterparty relating to the disclosure of the agreement to the committee, (iii) on what date was the final agreement between the government signatory and the counterparty reached relating to the disclosure of the agreement to the committee, (iv) what were the actions taken by the government, pursuant to the agreement, in order to disclose the agreement to the committee, (v) which sections of the agreement were engaged for the purpose of disclosing the agreement to the committee; and (f) with regard to the sections of the agreements relating to confidentiality and disclosure, including but not limited to section 16 through 16B (Sanofi), section 22 through 22.4 (Medicago), section 16 through 16.8 (AstraZeneca), section 7 through 7.6 (Moderna), section 10 through 10.4 (Pfizer), section 13 through 13.6 (Novavax), and section 17 through 17.8 (Janssen), (i) is Parliament, including any of its powers or constituent or subsidiary parts, explicitly included, or should be reasonably understood to be included, in any exclusions to the sections and, if so, to what extent or, if not, why not, (ii) did the government signatory seek or receive legal advice on the applicability of the sections with respect to orders or powers of Parliament, including any of its constituent or subsidiary parts and, if so, what were the conclusions and recommendations of that advice in summary or, if not, why not, (iii) did the government signatory seek or receive legal advice with respect to a potential conflict between the rights and powers of Parliament, or its committees, and the requirements of the sections and, if so, what were the conclusions and recommendations of that advice in summary or, if not, why not, (iv) were the terms of the sections initially proposed by the government signatory and, if so, from what document, policy, or other source did the terms of the sections originate, (v) in the course of negotiating the contract or agreement, did the government signatory propose or seek agreement for less stringent terms in the sections and, if so, what was the response of the counterparty in summary, (vi) were the Governor in Council, the designated minister, or the head of the institution consulted on the terms of, or agreement to, the sections, (vii) was agreement to the sections approved by the Governor in Council, the designated minister, or the head of the institution, (viii) what are the reasons the government signatories agreed to the terms of the sections, (ix) was the government signatory aware, at or before the effective date, of the text or terms of analogous sections agreed to by foreign governments in analogous contracts or agreements and, if so, to what extent? |
| M-93 — June 18, 2021 — — That: |
| (a) the House recognize that, |
| (i) it is a prerogative of the Crown to dissolve Parliament at its pleasure, |
| (ii) the confidence convention is an important cornerstone of the Canadian political system, |
| (iii) the confidence convention has never been clearly codified and this has sometimes led to confusion among members and the general public as to the nature and significance of certain votes, |
| (iv) governments have sometimes abused the confidence convention to reinforce party discipline or influence the outcome of a vote that is not explicitly a matter of confidence or that would not be considered a matter of confidence by convention; |
| (b) in the opinion of the House, |
| (i) the House itself, not the Prime Minister, should be the final authority as to whether the government of the day enjoys the confidence of the House, |
| (ii) the means by which the House may pronounce itself on a question of confidence should be explicit, clear and predictable so that all members know well in advance when the confidence of the House will be tested, |
| (iii) once the House has determined such means in its Standing Orders or in legislation, the government should not seek to circumvent the process established by the House by declaring a vote to be a matter of confidence if the rules of the House would not otherwise designate that vote as a matter of confidence, and any attempt to do so may constitute a contempt of Parliament, |
| (iv) a question of confidence is a serious matter and should not be used as a pretext for dilatory tactics by either side of the House; |
| (c) effective from the 30th sitting day after the adoption of this motion or at the beginning of the next Parliament, whichever comes first, the Standing Orders be amended as follows: |
| (i) by adding, after Standing Order 53.1, the following new standing order: |
| “53.2(1) The government must enjoy the confidence of the House of Commons. The House may express its confidence, or lack thereof, in the government by adopting a confidence motion in one of the following forms: (i) “That the House has lost confidence in the government”; (ii) “That the House has confidence in the government”. |
| (2)(a) Notice of a confidence motion pursuant to section (1) of this standing order shall meet the requirements of Standing Order 54, provided that four sitting days shall be given prior to the motion being placed on the Order Paper. Such notice shall be signed by the sponsor and 20 other members representing more than one of the recognized parties. |
| (b) Notwithstanding Standing Order 18, the House may pronounce itself on the motions listed in section (1) of this standing order more than once. |
| (c) Only one confidence motion pursuant to section (1) of this standing order: (i) may be placed on notice in each supply period; (ii) shall be sponsored or signed by the same member of the House in a session of a Parliament. |
| (3) At the expiry of the notice period pursuant to section (2) of this standing order, an order of the day for the consideration of a confidence motion shall be placed on the Order Paper, be considered at the next sitting of the House and take precedence over all other business of the House, with the exception of a debate on a privilege motion. |
| (4) When the order of the day on a confidence motion is called, it must stand as the first order of the day. The confidence motion is deemed to have been moved and seconded and shall not be subject to any amendment. |
| (5) Private Members’ Business shall be suspended on a day any such motion is debated. |
| (6) No dilatory motion shall be allowed during debate on a confidence motion pursuant to section (1) of this standing order and the provisions of Standing Orders 62 and 63 shall be suspended. |
| (7) The proceedings on the order of the day on a confidence motion proposed thereto shall not exceed one sitting day. |
| (8) No member shall speak for more than 20 minutes at a time in the debate on a confidence motion. Following the speech of each member, a period not exceeding 10 minutes shall be made available, if required, to allow members to ask questions and comment briefly on matters relevant to the speech and to allow responses thereto. Any period of debate of 20 minutes may be divided in two pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 43(2). |
| (9) When no further member rises to speak, or at the ordinary hour of daily adjournment, whichever is earlier, the Speaker shall interrupt the proceedings and the question shall be put and forthwith disposed of, notwithstanding Standing Order 45. |
| (10) Any matter of confidence so designated beyond those provided for in Standing Orders 50(8), 53.2(1), 81(18)(e), and 84(6)(b) may be called to the attention of the Chair and the member may ask that the matter be referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. As the case may be, the Speaker shall automatically refer the matter to the said committee.”, |
| (ii) in Standing Order 45(6)(a), by adding, after the words “An exception to this rule is”, the following: “the division on a confidence motion pursuant to Standing Order 53.2(9) and”, |
| (iii) by adding, after Standing Order 50(7), the following: “(8) If the main motion is defeated, the government has lost the confidence of the House.”, |
| (iv) by adding, after Standing Order 67(1)(p), the following: “(q) for the consideration of a confidence motion”, |
| (v) in Standing Order 81(13), by adding the following: “Opposition motions cannot contain explicitly worded expressions of confidence in the government.”, |
| (vi) by adding, after Standing Order 81(18)(d), the following: “(e) After having disposed of any opposed item, if the motion to concur in the main estimates is defeated, the government has lost the confidence of the House.”, |
| (vii) by renumbering Standing Order 84(6) as Standing Order 84(6)(a), |
| (viii) by adding, after Standing Order 84(6)(a), the following: “(b) If the main motion is defeated, the government has lost the confidence of the House.”, |
| (ix) in Standing Order 99(1), by adding, after “52(14),”, the following: “53.2(5),”; and |
| (d) the Clerk of the House be authorized to make any required editorial and consequential alterations to the Standing Orders, including to the marginal notes, as well as such changes to the Order Paper and Notice Paper, as may be required. |