On motion of David Myles, it was agreed, — That Lisa Hepfner be elected Chair of the committee.

At 3:38 p.m., Lisa Hepfner took the Chair.

On motion of Bernard Généreux, it was agreed, — That Rachael Thomas be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Fares Al Soud, it was agreed, — That Martin Champoux be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Fares Al Soud, 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 Fares Al Soud, it was agreed, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of four members; the Chair and one member from each recognized party, as designated by each party’s whip; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

On motion of Fares Al Soud, 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.

On motion of Fares Al Soud, it was agreed, — That, when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct: (a) the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of whether quorum is present, (b) no substantive motion may be moved during such meetings.

On motion of Fares Al Soud, it was agreed, — That witnesses be given five (5) minutes for their opening statements; that whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statements 72 hours in advance; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six (6) minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows:

First Round:

• Conservative Party
• Liberal Party
• Bloc Québécois

For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows:

• Conservative Party, five (5) minutes
• Liberal Party, five (5) minutes
• Bloc Québécois, two and a half (2.5) minutes
• Conservative Party, five (5) minutes
• Liberal Party, five (5) minutes

On motion of Fares Al Soud, it was agreed, — That only the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee and only when the documents are in both official languages; and that all documents submitted to the committee in both official languages, that do not come from a federal department, members’ offices, or that have not been translated by the Translation Bureau, be sent for linguistic review by the Translation Bureau before being distributed to members, and that the witnesses be advised accordingly.

On motion of Fares Al Soud, 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 Fares Al Soud, 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 Fares Al Soud, 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 officers’ office be allowed to be present.

That, during in camera meetings, committee members may be informed by the committee Chair of the MPs who have been designated as substitutes for permanent members, in order to know which MPs are authorized to speak and vote during these committee meetings. That only those who have been recognized and identified as such be authorized to speak, in keeping with the usual agreed rules of order and decorum.

On motion of Bernard Généreux, it was agreed, — That one copy of the transcript of each in-camera meeting be securely retained by the committee clerk for consultation by members of the committee or by their staff; and that the analysts assigned to the committee have access to the in-camera transcripts.

On motion of Bernard Généreux, 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 Thursday, and no later than 2:30 p.m. on 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.

On motion of Bernard Généreux, 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 Bernard Généreux, 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 Bernard Généreux, it was agreed, — That the clerk of the committee be authorized to grant access to the committee's digital binder to the offices of the whips of each recognized party.

On motion of Bernard Généreux, it was agreed, — That, during meetings, the Chair, if necessary, uses his prerogative to suspend the meeting to maintain the order and decorum necessary to ensure the application of the House of Commons’ policies on workplace health and safety.

Rachael Thomas moved, — That, given that committee members, staff, the clerk, analysts, and witnesses worked hard to produce the report entitled “The holding of National Forum on the Media” during the first session of the 44th Parliament, and given that the Government did not table a response because of the prorogation of Parliament:

the committee deem that it has undertaken and completed a study on “The holding of National Forum on the Media” pursuant to Standing Order 108, and that it adopt that report as a report from this committee;

pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request the government to table a comprehensive response to the report;

supplementary or dissenting reports that accompanied the report in the previous session of Parliament be tabled with the main report; and,

the Chair present the report to the House.

Debate arose thereon.

At 3:56 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 4:02 p.m., the meeting resumed.

The debate continued.

It was agreed, — That the debate on the motion be adjourned until the next committee meeting.

Rachael Thomas moved, — That, given that committee members, staff, the clerk, analysts, and witnesses worked hard to produce the report entitled “Harms caused by illegal sexually explicit material online” during the first session of the 44th Parliament, and given that the Government did not table a response because of the prorogation of Parliament:

the committee deem that it has undertaken and completed a study on “Harms caused by illegal sexually explicit material online” pursuant to Standing Order 108, and that it adopt that report as a report from this committee;

pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request the government to table a comprehensive response to the report;

supplementary or dissenting reports that accompanied the report in the previous session of Parliament be tabled with the main report; and,

the Chair present the report to the House.

Debate arose thereon.

It was agreed, — That the debate on the motion be adjourned until the next committee meeting.

Rachael Thomas moved, — That, given that committee members, staff, the clerk, analysts, and witnesses worked hard to produce the report entitled “Tech giants’ intimidation and subversion tactics to evade regulation in Canada and globally” during the first session of the 44th Parliament, and given that the Government did not table a response because of the prorogation of Parliament:

the committee deem that it has undertaken and completed a study on “Tech giants’ intimidation and subversion tactics to evade regulation in Canada and globally” pursuant to Standing Order 108, and that it adopt that report as a report from this committee;

pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request the government to table a comprehensive response to the report;

supplementary or dissenting reports that accompanied the report in the previous session of Parliament be tabled with the main report; and,

the Chair present the report to the House.

Debate arose thereon.

It was agreed, — That the debate on the motion be adjourned until the next Committee meeting.

Rachael Thomas moved, — Given that, the 45th session of Parliament has just begun, and Canadian identity and culture is at a crucial moment, pursuant to Standing Order 108, the committee invite the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture to testify before the committee for no less than 2 hours and the department officials for one hour, no later than Friday, September 26th, 2025.

Debate arose thereon.

The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Martin Champoux, Bernard Généreux, Jamil Jivani, Rachael Thomas, Kevin Waugh — 5;

NAYS: Fares Al Soud, David Myles, Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Zoe Royer — 4.