Caroline Maynard made a statement and answered questions.

It was agreed, — It was agreed, that members send their list of witnesses for the study on Postal Service in Canada’s Rural and Remote Communities to the clerk’s office before Friday, March 1, 2024.

At 2:19 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 2:31 p.m., the sitting resumed.

On motion of Kelly Block, it was agreed, — That, the committee resume consideration of the motion of Andrew Scheer, the amendment of Garnett Genuis and the subamendment of Julie Vignola moved on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.

The motion of Andrew Scheer read as follows:

That the Committee report to the House that, given that:

(i) GC Strategies’ owners, Kristian Firth and Darren Anthony, were issued summonses on November 2, 2023, compelling their appearance before the committee on December 5, 2023, and refused to testify, and new summonses were issued for them to appear by February 9, 2024, and again GC Strategies’ owners refused to testify before the committee;

(ii) The Auditor General revealed that GC Strategies received nearly $20 million in government contracts on ArriveCAN alone, double what was originally projected;

(iii) The Government of Canada has $250 million in contracts with GC Strategies listed on its website, but claims they cannot confirm the accuracy of this amount as the website is prone to error, casting further doubt on how much this two person IT company has received since the company formed in 2015, and

(iv) The RCMP is investigating contracting links to ArriveCAN and has met with the Auditor General concerning her findings in the ArriveCAN audit;

The Committee recommend that an Order of the House do issue requiring Kristian Firth and Darren Anthony each to appear before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates at dates and times determined by the Chair of the Committee, but within fourteen days of the adoption of this Order, provided that, if the Chair of the Committee informs the Speaker and the Sergeant at Arms in writing that one or both have failed to appear as ordered;

(a) the Sergeant at Arms shall take Kristian Firth, Darren Anthony or both of them, as the case may be, into his custody for the purposes of enforcing their attendance before the Committee at dates and times determined by the Chair of the Committee, for which the Speaker shall issue his warrant accordingly;

(b) the Sergeant at Arms shall discharge from his custody a witness taken into his custody, pursuant to paragraph (a), upon (i) a decision of the Committee releasing the witness from further attendance, or (ii) a further Order of the House to that effect; and

(c) the Speaker shall inform the House, at the earliest opportunity, of developments in this regard.

The amendement of Garnett Genuis read as follows:

That the motion be amended:

(a) by adding, immediately after the words "dates and times determined by the Chair of the Committee,", in both places where they appear, the following: "and with such accessibility accommodations which the witnesses may request and the Chair agrees to provide,"; and

(b) by replacing the word "fourteen" with "twenty one"

The subamendment of Julie Vignola read as follows:

That the amendment be amended by adding after the words “conclusions in the ArriveCAN audit” the following: “In order to call witnesses, the following steps are requested:”

That, after the words “by the Committee Chair, but”, the following words: “within twenty-one days” be added; and that after the words “following the adoption of this order,” the words “while providing any accommodation that the witnesses may require. Seconde step:” be added; and

That, before the words “the Chair of the Committee shall notify in writing,” the words “After twenty-one days” be added

At 4:07 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:14 p.m., the sitting resumed.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That the Committee report to the House that, given that:

CONTEXT

(i) On November 2nd 2023 and February 9th 2024m subpoenas to the Standing Committee on Government operations and Estimates (OGGO) were issued to the owners of GC Strategies, Kristian Firth and Darren Anthony. The latter refused to testify before Committee.

(ii) The Auditor General revealed that GC Strategies might have received nearly 20 millions dollars in government contracts for the ARRIVCAN application.

(iii) The data on the open government website is said to be subject to errors, which casts further doubt on the amounts that GC Strategies, in particular, might have received in government contracts since 2015.

(iv) An RCMP investigation is currently taking place, notably implicating the owners of GC Strategies.

REFUSAL TO APPEAR

(A) According to BOSC, Marc and GAGNON, André, The Procedure and practices of the House of Commons, Third edition, 2017, p.317, “If a witness declines an invitation, the committee may issue him a subpoena by adopting a motion to this effect. If the witness still refuses to appear, the committee may refer the matter to the House, which may then order the witness to appear. If the witness disobeys the order, he or she could be found in contempt.”

a. Still according to BOSC, Marc and GAGNON, André, The Procedure and practices of the House of Commons, Third edition, 2017, p.81, “The basis of the power to punish contempt, whether it is a contempt of court or chambers, is that courts and chambers must be able to protect themselves against acts which directly or indirectly hinder the exercise of their functions118.”

i. BOSC, Marc and GAGNON, André, The Procedure and practices of the House of Commons, Third edition, 2017, note 119 : “The House itself decides on its intervention when it makes

REQUESTS

In order to see the witnesses in committee to testify, those steps are requested:

First step

The Committee recommend that an Order of the House do issue requiring Kristian Firth and Darren Anthony each to appear before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates at dates and times determined by the Chair of the Committee, but within twenty-one days of the adoption of this Order and with such accessibility accommodations the witnesses may request and the Chair agree to arrange.

Second step:

After those twenty-one days, if the Chair of the Committee informs the Speaker and the Sergeant at Arms in writing that one or both have failed to appear as ordered,

(a) the Sergeant at Arms shall take Kristian Firth, Darren Anthony or both of them, as the case may be, into his custody for the purposes of enforcing their attendance before the Committee at dates and times determined by the Chair of the Committee, for which the Speaker shall issue his warrant accordingly;

(b) the Sergeant at Arms shall discharge from his custody a witness taken into his custody, pursuant to paragraph (a), upon (i) a decision of the Committee releasing the witness from further attendance, or (ii) a further Order of the House to that effect; and

(c) the Speaker shall inform the House, at the earliest opportunity, of developments in this regard.

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