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Minutes of Proceedings

44th Parliament, 1st Session
Meeting 1
Monday, December 13, 2021, 11:03 a.m. to 12:58 p.m.
Webcast

• Scott Aitchison for Bob Benzen (Conservative)
• Kelly Block for Bob Benzen (Conservative)
• Monique Pauzé for Louise Chabot (Bloc Québécois)
House of Commons
• Cédric Taquet, Procedural Clerk
 
Library of Parliament
• Eleni Kachulis, Analyst
• Isabelle Lafontaine-Émond, Analyst
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(1) and the Order adopted by the House of Commons on Thursday, December 2, 2021, the committee met for the purpose of electing a chair.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the clerk of the committee presided over the election of a chair.

On motion of Wayne Long, it was agreed, — That Robert J. Morrissey be elected Chair of the committee.

At 11:07 p.m., Robert J. Morrissey took the Chair.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the clerk of the committee presided over the election of vice-chairs.

On motion of Matt Jeneroux, it was agreed, — That Stephanie Kusie be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Soraya Martinez Ferrada, it was agreed, — That Louise Chabot be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

The committee proceeded to the consideration of matters related to committee business.

On motion of Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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.

Motion

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

Debate arose thereon.

It was agreed, — That the debate be now adjourned.

Motion

Bonita Zarrillo 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;

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; and

That any motion to sit in camera is debatable and amendable.

Debate arose thereon.

It was agreed, — That the debate be now adjourned.

Motion

Wayne Long moved, — That, in context of Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code, the Minister of Labour appear before the committee today at 11:45 a.m. (EST).

Debate arose thereon.

At 11:39 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 11:46 a.m., the sitting resumed.

The debate on the motion of Wayne Long continued.

Amendment

Alex Ruff moved, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words “today at 11:45 a.m. (EST)” with the words “at a later time this week”.

Debate arose thereon.

At 12:26 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:29 p.m., the sitting resumed.

The debate on the amendment of Alex Ruff continued.

The question was put on the amendment of Alex Ruff and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Scott Aitchison, Matt Jeneroux, Stephanie Kusie, Alex Ruff — 4;

NAYS: Alexandre Boulerice, Chad Collins, Michael Coteau, Wayne Long, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Monique Pauzé, Tony Van Bynen — 7.

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

YEAS: Alexandre Boulerice, Chad Collins, Michael Coteau, Wayne Long, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Monique Pauzé, Tony Van Bynen — 7;

NAYS: Scott Aitchison, Matt Jeneroux, Stephanie Kusie, Alex Ruff — 4.

At 12:34 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:55 p.m., the sitting resumed.

On motion of Stephanie Kusie, it was agreed, — That, notwithstanding the motion adopted earlier today in the context of Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code, the Minister of Labour appear before the committee at a soon but later date.

It was agreed, — That the committee do now adjourn.

At 12:58 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.



Danielle Widmer
Clerk of the committee