PACP Committee Meeting
Notices of Meeting include information about the subject matter to be examined by the committee and date, time and place of the meeting, as well as a list of any witnesses scheduled to appear. The Evidence is the edited and revised transcript of what is said before a committee. The Minutes of Proceedings are the official record of the business conducted by the committee at a sitting.
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Minutes of Proceedings
Andrew Hayes, Annette Gibbons and Paul Thompson made statements and, with the other witnesses, answered questions.
At 12:41 p.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 12:43 p.m., the sitting resumed.
Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(g), the committee undertake a study of the contracts between Public Services and Procurement Canada with Moderna, Sanofi, Pfizer, Medicago, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines (Auditor General's Report 9 and 10);
That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(1), the committee order Public Services and Procurement Canada to produce a copy of each of the said contracts by forwarding them to the clerk of the committee within 15 days of the adoption of this motion, provided that they are free of any redactions;
That, when these documents are received by the clerk:
a. They be available at the clerk's office for viewing by committee members only, for one day to be designated by the committee no later than 15 days following the receipt of the contracts, under the supervision of the clerk and that no personal mobile or electronic devices be permitted in the room that day;
b. Representatives of Public Services and Procurement Canada be invited to appear for a two-hour in-camera meeting and that during the meeting, only committee members and support staff required for the meeting be permitted to attend and that no personal mobile or electronic devices be permitted in the room during the meeting; that, during the meeting, numbered paper copies of the documents be given to committee members who are present in person by the clerk at the beginning of the said meeting and that these copies be returned to the clerk at the end of the meeting and that the clerk be instructed to destroy the said copies.
Debate arose thereon.
Jean Yip moved, — That the committee proceed to sit in camera.
The question was put on the motion and the result of the vote was announced: YEAS: 5; NAYS: 5.
Whereupon, the Chair voted in the negative.
Accordingly, the motion was negatived.
At 1:11 p.m., the sitting was suspended.
Thursday, February 16, 2023, at 3:30 p.m., the sitting resumed.
Anthony Housefather moved, — That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after “(Auditor General’s Report 9 and 10);” and replaced with the following:
That the committee clerk write to each of the suppliers signaling the willingness of committee members to sign non-disclosure agreements in order to review unredacted copies of the contracts, and, should the suppliers decline, the suppliers would be required to provide a written explanation to the committee as to the nature of the information being withheld and the reasons for withholding it from Members of Parliament; and, if after 30 days, the committee has not received a response, or the committee is not satisfied with the responses, members sign non-disclosure agreements in order to review unredacted copies of the contracts. In either case, these contracts would be provided by PSPC in a predetermined Government of Canada secure location and PSPC officials be made available to respond to committee members questions regarding the documents. Documents would be provided to Members of Parliament only and on the condition that the documents not leave the location and all of the rules of the secure location are followed.
Furthermore, the committee requests that PSPC officials be available for future in-camera meetings to discuss the topic.
Debate arose thereon.
At 4:13 p.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 4:21 p.m., the sitting resumed.
At 5:43 p.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 5:51 p.m., the sitting resumed.
Anthony Housefather moved, — That the committee do now adjourn.
The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Valerie Bradford, Blake Desjarlais, Peter Fragiskatos, Anthony Housefather, Brenda Shanahan, Jean Yip — 6;
NAYS: Stephen Ellis, Michael Kram, Kelly McCauley, Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné — 4.
At 7:55 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.