On motion of Kelly Block, it was agreed, — That Kelly McCauley be elected Chair of the committee.

At 11:08 a.m., Kelly McCauley took the Chair.

On motion of Vince Gasparro, it was agreed, — That Iqwinder Gaheer be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Jenna Sudds, it was agreed, — That Marie-Hélène Gaudreau be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

By unanimous consent, the following motions were adopted severally:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

It was agreed, – 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It was agreed, – That, during meetings, the Chair, if necessary, use 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.

It was agreed, – That, when departmental officials are appearing before the committee to discuss any estimates, the Chief Financial Officer of the department also be invited to appear.

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 and that, if a response is not received within the specified time, 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 Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, it was agreed, — That the two routine motions specific to the committee be taken into consideration at its next meeting, provided that the clerk distribute them again to members in preparation for the meeting in the fall.

Kelly Block moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(c), the committee undertake a study of the purchase of the new official residence of the Consul General of Canada in New York; that the evidence and documents gathered by the committee during the first session of the 44th Parliament concerning the study be taken into consideration by the committee during the current session; that the analysts be instructed to prepare a draft report on this study in preparation for the fall.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and the result of the vote was announced:

YEAS: Kelly Block, Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Tamara Jansen, Jeremy Patzer — 4;

NAYS: Iqwinder Gaheer, Vince Gasparro, Pauline Rochefort, Jenna Sudds — 4.

Whereupon, the Chair voted in the affirmative.

Accordingly, the motion was agreed to.

On motion of Jenna Sudds, it was agreed, — That the analysts be instructed to prepare a briefing note summarizing the study launched last session on indigenous procurement.

Marie-Hélène Gaudreau moved, — That the documents received from Dalian / Coradix in response to the motions for the production of documents pertaining to them and adopted during the first session of the 44th Parliament be classified as confidential until further notice and that they be distributed only to the members’ personal email accounts through a SharePoint hyperlink with restricted access, provided that the analysts be instructed to draft a briefing note giving more context on the requested documents and that this note be distributed to members and all their staff at the same time as the Dalian / Coradix documents are shared.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and the result of the vote was announced:

YEAS: Kelly Block, Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Tamara Jansen, Jeremy Patzer — 4;

NAYS: Iqwinder Gaheer, Vince Gasparro, Pauline Rochefort, Jenna Sudds — 4.

Whereupon, the Chair voted in the affirmative.

Accordingly, the motion was agreed to.

On motion of Kelly Block, it was agreed, — That given that committee members, staff, the clerk, analysts and witnesses worked hard to produce the report entitled “Canada’s Postal Service: A Lifeline for Rural and Remote Communities” during the 44th Parliament, and given that the government did not table a response owing to the prorogation of Parliament, the committee deemed that it had undertaken and completed a study on “Canada’s Postal Service: A Lifeline for Rural and Remote Communities” pursuant to Standing Order 108, and that it adopt that report as a report from this committee; that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request that the government table a comprehensive response to the report; that supplementary or dissenting opinions that accompanied the report in the previous session of Parliament be tabled with the report; and that the Chair present the report to the House.

Kelly Block moved, — That the committee recommend the renewal of the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s mandate upon its expiration to ensure the continued provision of independent financial analysis to Parliament and that this be reported back to the House.

At 12:10 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 12:13 p.m., the meeting resumed.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and the result of the vote was announced:

YEAS: Kelly Block, Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Tamara Jansen, Jeremy Patzer — 4;

NAYS: Iqwinder Gaheer, Vince Gasparro, Pauline Rochefort, Jenna Sudds — 4.

Whereupon, the Chair voted in the affirmative.

Accordingly, the motion was agreed to.

ORDERED, — That the Chair present the report to the House.