Eve Samson made a statement and answered questions.

At 10:13 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 115(5), it was agreed that the committee continue to sit.

At 10:45 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 11:00 a.m., the sitting resumed.

Questioning of the witness resumed.

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

At 11:08 a.m., the sitting resumed.

Sam Cooper and Ward Elcock made statements and answered questions.

At 11:33 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 115(5), it was agreed that the committee continue to sit.

At 11:59 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:21 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Questioning of the witnesses resumed.

At 12:33 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:35 p.m., the sitting resumed.

On motion of Michael Cooper, it was agreed, — That the committee continue to sit in public for the remainder of the meeting.

Michael Cooper moved, — That, in relation to its order of reference of Wednesday, May 10, 2023, concerning the intimidation campaign orchestrated by Wei Zhao against the Member for Wellington—Halton Hills and other Members, the committee

(a) expand the scope of this study, further to the Speaker’s ruling of Wednesday, May 31, 2023, and the evidence of the Acting Clerk of the House on Thursday, June 8, 2023, to include the matters raised in the House by the Honourable Erin O’Toole on Tuesday, May 30, 2023;

(b) make the evidence received during this study available for its study on foreign election interference;

(c) hold at least eight meetings, of at least two hours’ length, between Tuesday, July 4, 2023, and Friday, September 8, 2023, on dates to be determined by the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure, for the purposes of hearing witnesses and considering related committee business;

(d) invite each of the following to appear on his or her own:

(i) the Honourable Erin O’Toole, for two hours,

(ii) the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, for two hours,

(iii) the Honourable Ian Shugart, former Clerk of the Privy Council, for one hour,

(iv) Janice Charette, Clerk of the Privy Council, for one hour,

(v) Rob Stewart, former Deputy Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, for one hour,

(vi) Marta Morgan, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, for one hour,

(vii) Greta Bossenmaier, former National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister, for one hour,

(viii) Gina Wilson, former Deputy Minister of Public Safety, for one hour,

(ix) Paul MacKinnon, Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Governance), for one hour,

(x) Zita Astravas, Chief of Staff to the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, for two hours,

(xi) Jeffrey Hutchinson, former Interim Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Emergency Preparedness), for one hour,

(xii) Marie-Hélène Chayer, Executive Director of the Privy Council Office Task Force on Foreign Interference, for two hours, and

(xiii) Allen Sutherland, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Machinery of Government and Democratic Institutions), for one hour;

(e) invite the following to appear on panels:

(i) Navigator Ltd. officials who had been providing support to Special Rapporteur David Johnston and to Han Dong, for two hours, and

(ii) Don Guy and Brian Topp, founding partners, gt&co, for two hours;

(f) re-invite each of the following to appear on his or her own:

(i) the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, for one hour,

(ii) Mike MacDonald, former Acting National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister, for one hour,

(iii) Cong Peiwu, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Canada, for two hours,

(iv) Sheila Block, Counsel to Special Rapporteur David Johnston, for two hours, and

(v) Valérie Gervais, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, RKESTRA, for one hour;

(g) invite each of the following to re-appear on his own:

(i) the Honourable Bill Blair, former Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, for an additional hour, and

(ii) the Right Honourable David Johnston for an additional two hours, following the publication of his final report;

(h) direct that a summons do issue to Michael Chan, former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister, to appear, on his own for two hours, at a date and time fixed by the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure, but no later than Friday, September 8, 2023;

(i) order the production, within three weeks, of

(i) the July 2021 CSIS report entitled “People’s Republic of China Foreign Interference in Canada: A Critical National Security Threat” and the May 2021 CSIS issues management note sent to the then-Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness respecting the Beijing regime’s intention to target Members of this House, together with all records concerning the transmission to, distribution within, analysis of and handling by, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Privy Council Office, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development and the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, of this report, and

(ii) all other 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, including the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, the Critical Election Incident Protocol Panel, any minister’s office, and the Prime Minister’s Office, containing information concerning

(A) planning or efforts by, or on behalf of, foreign governments or other foreign state actors to intimidate a Member of the House of Commons, or

(B) the matters raised by the Honourable Erin O’Toole in the House of Commons on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, provided that

(iii) these documents be deposited without redaction, in both official languages, with the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel,

(iv) a copy of the documents shall also be deposited, in both official languages, with the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, with any proposed redaction of information which, in the government’s opinion, could reasonably be expected to compromise the identities of employees or sources or intelligence-collecting methods of Canadian or allied intelligence agencies,

(v) the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel shall promptly notify the committee whether the Office is satisfied that the documents were produced as ordered, and, if not, the Chair shall be instructed to present forthwith, on behalf of the Committee, a report to the House outlining the material facts of the situation,

(vi) the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel shall assess the redactions proposed by the government, pursuant to subparagraph (iv), to determine whether the Office agrees that the proposed redactions conform with the criteria set out in subparagraph (iv) and

(A) if it agrees, it shall provide the documents, as redacted by the government pursuant to subparagraph (iv), to the Clerk of the Committee, or

(B) if it disagrees with some or all of the proposed redactions, it shall provide a copy of the documents, redacted in the manner the Office determines would conform with the criteria set out in paragraph (iv), together with a report indicating the number, extent and nature of the government’s proposed redactions which were disagreed with, to the Clerk of the Committee, and

(vii) the clerk of the committee shall cause the redacted documents, provided by the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel pursuant to subparagraph (vi), to be distributed to the members of the committee and to be published on the committee’s website forthwith upon receipt;

(j) order the production, within three weeks, of the annex to Special Rapporteur David Johnston’s First Report, together with all documents reviewed by him in preparing his First Report, provided that

(i) the documents shall be deposited without redaction, in both official languages, with the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel,

(ii) the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel shall promptly notify the committee whether the Office is satisfied that the documents were produced as ordered, and, if not, the Chair shall be instructed to present forthwith, on behalf of the committee, a report to the House outlining the material facts of the situation,

(iii) the documents shall be available for viewing by committee members, under the supervision of the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, between the day of their deposit and the day prior to the meeting referred to in subparagraph (iv),

(iv) the committee shall meet in camera, for at least two hours, no fewer than 14 days after the documents have been deposited, but no later than Friday, September 8, 2023, with relevant government officials, to discuss the documents,

(v) at the meeting referred to in subparagraph (iv),

(A) only committee members, support staff required for the meeting, the witnesses, and representatives of the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel be permitted to attend, and

(B) the clerk of the committee shall provide numbered paper copies of the documents, at the beginning of the meeting, to committee members who are present in person, which shall be returned to the clerk at the end of the meeting, and the clerk shall destroy the numbered paper copies after the meeting, and

(vi) during the viewing referred to in subparagraph (iii) and at the meeting referred to in subparagraph (iv), no personal mobile, electronic or recording devices of any kind shall be permitted in the room, and no notes may be removed from the room; and

(k) order the production, within three weeks, of all records concerning the expenditures incurred, or committed to, by the Special Rapporteur, pursuant to paragraph 4(g) of the Schedule to Order in Council 2023-0324, including contracts with Torys LLP, Navigator Ltd. and RKESTRA, provided that

(i) the documents shall be deposited without redaction, in both official languages, with the clerk of the ommittee,

(ii) the documents shall be distributed to the members of the committee and published on the Committee’s website forthwith upon receipt, and

(iii) the clerk of the committee shall promptly notify the committee whether he is satisfied that the documents were produced as ordered, and, if not, the Chair shall be instructed to present forthwith, on behalf of the committee, a report to the House outlining the material facts of the situation.

Debate arose thereon.