On motion of Michael Cooper, it was agreed, — That Tom Kmiec be elected Chair of the committee.

Tom Kmiec took the Chair.

On motion of Peter Fragiskatos, it was agreed, — That Jean Yip be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Brenda Shanahan, it was agreed, — That Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

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

On motion of Valerie Bradford, 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 Valerie Bradford, 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, 5 minutes

Liberal Party, 5 minutes.

On motion of Valerie Bradford, 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 Valerie Bradford, 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 Valerie Bradford, 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 Valerie Bradford, 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 Valerie Bradford, 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 Valerie Bradford, 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 Valerie Bradford, 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 Valerie Bradford, 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 Valerie Bradford, 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.

On motion of Valerie Bradford, it was agreed, — That, when undertakings are given by witnesses at committee meetings to provide further answers to questions or follow up information, the witnesses be given three weeks to provide the committee with a written response, if a response is not received within the specified time that the committee invite the appropriate accounting officer to appear before the committee to explain why the information has not been provided in the time requested.

On motion of Valerie Bradford, it was agreed, — That, pursuant to Standing Orders 108(1)(a) and 108(3)(g), with regard to any request for information or response contained in any report of the committee, the department or agency tasked with providing the request for information or response be obliged to provide it by no later than the deadline contained in the same report.

On motion of Valerie Bradford, it was agreed, — That the committee Chair and staff be authorized to:

• review government responses to recommendations made by the committee during the 43rd Parliament;
• acknowledge by letter, on the committee’s behalf, receipt of government responses where they respond clearly and completely to recommendations or request further information or clarification, as required;
• monitor the implementation of government commitments made in response to committee recommendations, and request further information as required; and,
• report to the committee on these activities in a timely fashion.

On motion of Valerie Bradford, it was agreed, — That all organizations that have been subject to a performance audit or a special examination by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada provide a detailed action plan to address the audit recommendations which have been agreed to - including specific actions, timelines for their completion and responsible individuals - to the committee and the Office of the Auditor General of Canada within six months of the audit being tabled in the House of Commons;

That organizations that are invited to appear before the committee to discuss the findings of an audit should provide an action plan to the committee no later than 48 hours prior to the hearing;

That action plans and progress reports received by the committee be published on the committee’s website.

Blake Desjarlais 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.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Blake Desjarlais — 1;

NAYS: Valerie Bradford, Richard Bragdon, Michael Cooper, Han Dong, Peter Fragiskatos, Philip Lawrence, Brenda Shanahan, Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Jean Yip — 9.

On motion of Jean Yip, it was agreed, — That the committee invite the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation to provide it with one training session concerning on how a public accounts committee works.