On motion of Sherry Romanado, it was agreed, — That Ben Carr be elected Chair of the committee.

At 11:04 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 11:07 a.m., the sitting resumed.

Sherry Romanado moved, — Pursuant to Standing Order 108(1)(a), the committee conduct a review of the Members of the House of Commons Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Policy and make any relevant changes to ensure Members of Parliament are protected from violence and harassment of any kind between Members; and that the committee report back to the House.

Debate arose thereon.

At 1:02 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 11:01 a.m., on Thursday, May 9, 2024, the sitting resumed.

The debate continued

At 12:02 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:14 p.m., the sitting resumed.

The debate continued

At 1:58 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 11:01 a.m., on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, the sitting resumed.

The debate continued.

By unanimous consent, it was agreed, —

That the motion proposed by Sherry Romanado be adopted to read as follows:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3), the committee conduct a review of the Members of the House of Commons Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Policy, study occurrences and impacts of harassment within the House of Commons, Parliament Hill, Constituency Offices, and via the use of Members’ social media, and make any relevant changes to ensure Members of Parliament, personnel and members of the public who participate in the day-to-day activities of the institution are protected from violence and harassment; that the committee invite:

(a) the Chief Human Resources Officer;

(b) the current and past speakers of the House of Commons;

(c) the Clerk of the house;

(d) the head clerk of committees;

(e) the Sergeant-At-Arms;

(f) the Interpretation Directorate;

(g) anti-harassment specialists and workplace mental health and safety experts;

(h) and any other witnesses as needed;

On motion of Michael Cooper, it was agreed, —

That, in relation to its Order of Reference of Thursday, May 9, 2024, regarding the prima facie contempt concerning the People's Republic of China’s cyber attack against members of Parliament, the committee:

(a) make use, for the purposes of this study:

(i) the evidence received during its study on foreign election interference;

(ii) the evidence received during its study of the prima facie contempt concerning the intimidation campaign orchestrated by Wei Zhao against the Member for Wellington—Halton Hills and other Members; and

(iii) the evidence received by the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics during its study on foreign interference, provided that it shall not limit the witnesses who may appear before the committee or the questions which may be asked of them;

(b) deem the public evidence, including testimony and documents, publicly available on the website of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions and pertaining to cyberattacks to have been received by this committee and may be used in its reports, provided that it shall not limit the witnesses who may appear before the committee or the questions which may be asked of them or the documents which may be requested or ordered to be produced by the committee;

(c) invite the following witnesses to appear:

(i) the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs;

(ii) the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence and former Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness;

(iii) the Honourable Harjit Sajjan, former Minister of National Defence;

(iv) the Honourable Anita Anand, former Minister of National Defence;

(v) panels of impacted Canadian members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China who wish to appear, provided that no more than three members shall appear on each panel, for one hour per panel;

(vi) Eric Janse, the Clerk of the House of Commons, by himself, for one hour, to discuss parliamentary privilege considerations;

(vii) Michel Bédard, the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel of the House of Commons, by himself, for one hour, to discuss parliamentary privilege considerations and the production of documents;

(viii) officials of the House of Commons Administration, by themselves, for two hours, to discuss information technology and cybersecurity considerations, provided that one hour shall be in camera;

(ix) the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons;

(x) officials of the Communications Security Establishment, by themselves, for two hours, provided that one hour shall be in camera;

(xi) officials of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, by themselves, for two hours, provided that one hour shall be in camera;

(xii) Nathalie Drouin, Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council and National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister;

(xiii) Vincent Rigby, former National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister;

(xiv) David Morrison, former Acting National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister;

(xv) Jody Thomas, former National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister;

(xvi) officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, by themselves, for two hours, provided that one hour shall be in camera;

(xvii) officials of the Secretariat of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, by themselves, for one hour; and

(xviii) academics, information technology and cybersecurity experts, and other witnesses requested by the committee, provided that the parties shall file their preliminary lists of witnesses within 10 days of the adoption of this motion;

(d) order the production of all Canadian memoranda, briefing notes, e-mails, records of conversations, and any other relevant documents, including any drafts, which are in the possession of any government department or agency between January 2021 and December 2022, including the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, the Critical Election Incident Protocol Panel, relevant minister’s office, or the House of Commons Administration, containing information concerning cyberattacks and efforts to conduct cyberattacks against Members of the House of Commons by Advanced Persistent Threat 31 (APT 31) and related entities, provided that:

(i) the departments and agencies tasked with gathering these documents apply redactions according to the Access to Information and Privacy Act;

(ii) these redacted documents be deposited as soon as possible, but not later than Friday, August 9, 2024, with the clerk of the committee to be distributed to all members of the committee in both official languages;