On motion of Lisa Hepfner, it was agreed, — That Hon. Hedy Fry be elected Chair of the committee.

At 3:42 p.m., the Hon. Hedy Fry took the Chair.

On motion of Kevin Waugh, it was agreed, — That John Nater be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Anthony Housefather, it was agreed, — That Martin Champoux be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That the committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the Chair, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five members; the Chair, one member from each recognized party; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence published when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including two members of the opposition parties and two members of the government party, but when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That witnesses be given five minutes for their opening statement; that whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statement 72 hours in advance; that at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows for the first round:

• Conservative Party

• Liberal Party

• Bloc Québécois

• New Democratic Party

For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows:

• Conservative Party, five minutes

• Liberal Party, five minutes

• Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes

• New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes

• Conservative Party, five minutes

• Liberal Party, five minutes.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That only the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee provided the documents are in both official languages, and that the witnesses be advised accordingly.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That the clerk of the committee, at the discretion of the Chair, be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses not exceeding two representatives per organization; and that in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff member at in camera meetings and that one additional person from each House officer’s office be allowed to be present.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be kept in the committee clerk’s office for consultation by members of the committee or by their staff; and that the analysts assigned to the committee also have access to the in camera transcripts.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That a 48-hour notice, interpreted as two nights, be required for any substantive motion to be moved in committee , unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration, provided that:

(a) the notice be filed with the clerk of the committee no later than 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday;

(b) the motion be distributed to Members and the offices of the whips of each recognized party in both official languages by the clerk on the same day the said notice was transmitted if it was received no later than the deadline hour;

(c) notices received after the deadline hour or on non-business days be deemed to have been received during the next business day;

and that when the committee is holding meetings outside the Parliamentary Precinct, no substantive motion may be moved.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That in relation to orders of reference from the House respecting Bills,

(a) the clerk of the committee shall, upon the committee receiving such an order of reference, write to each member who is not a member of a caucus represented on the committee to invite those members to file with the clerk of the committee, in both official languages, any amendments to the bill, which is the subject of the said Order, which they would suggest that the committee consider;

(b) suggested amendments filed, pursuant to paragraph (a), at least 48 hours prior to the start of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill to which the amendments relate shall be deemed to be proposed during the said consideration, provided that the committee may, by motion, vary this deadline in respect of a given bill; and

(c) during the clause-by-clause consideration of a bill, the Chair shall allow a member who filed suggested amendments, pursuant to paragraph (a), an opportunity to make brief representations in support of them.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That the clerk inform each witness who is to appear before the committee that the House administration support team must conduct technical tests to check the connectivity and the equipment used to ensure the best possible sound quality; and that the Chair advise the committee, at the start of each meeting, of any witness who did not perform the required technical tests.

On motion of Tim Louis, it was agreed, — That all documents submitted for committee business that do not come from a federal department, members’ offices, or that have not been translated by the Translation Bureau be sent for prior linguistic review by the Translation Bureau before being distributed to members.

Martin Champoux moved, — That the committee publish on the committee’s website written responses to questions provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Debate arose thereon.

At 4:06 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:09 p.m., the sitting resumed.

The committee resumed consideration of the motion of Martin Champoux, — That the committee publish on the committee’s website written responses to questions provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

Peter Julian moved, — That each party represented on the committee be entitled to select one witness per two-hour witness panel.

Debate arose thereon.

The question was put on the motion and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Peter Julian — 1;

NAYS: Chris Bittle, Martin Champoux, Michael Coteau, Lisa Hepfner, Anthony Housefather, Leslyn Lewis, Tim Louis, John Nater, Rachael Thomas, Kevin Waugh — 10.

Peter Julian moved, — That the committee may meet in camera only for the following purposes:

(a) to consider a draft report;

(b) to attend briefings concerning national security;

(c) to consider lists of witnesses;

(d) for any other reason, with the unanimous consent of the committee;

and that all votes taken in camera, with the exception of votes regarding the consideration of draft reports, be recorded in the minutes of proceedings, including how each member voted when recorded votes are requested.

RULING BY THE CHAIR

Standing Orders 67(1) and specifically 67(2) consider a motion to go in public or in camera to be non-debateable and non-amendable. House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Third Edition, outlines this at page 1089:

Any member may move a motion to go from sitting in public to sitting in camera (and vice versa). The motion is decided immediately without debate or amendment.

Page 1089 also states that:

In practice, committees often change from [in public to in camera] at the suggestion of the Chair, with the implied consent of the members.

I would suggest that the process outlined in this routine motion could be used more as a guide by the Chair and the committee on how to proceed rather than as a rule.

As members know, committees may adopt procedural rules to govern their proceedings, but only to the extent that they respect the higher authorities, particularly the Standing Orders.

Consequently, I rule this motion out of order.

At 4:31 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:33 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Martin Champoux gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study on the Status of the Artist Act and its impact on improving basic working conditions for artists; that the committee invite officials from the heritage department, tax experts and other stakeholders and groups from the culture sector to follow up on this issue; that the committee hold a minimum of four meetings to that end; and that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House.

At 4:43 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:46 p.m., the sitting resumed.

On motion of Martin Champoux, it was agreed, — That committee members send motions to the clerk of the committee by 4:00 p.m. EST, Thursday, January 20, 2022, and that the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure meet the following week to prepare for the return of the committee on Monday, January 31, 2022.