DEDC Committee Meeting

THE SPECIAL JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

OTTAWA, Monday, March 14, 2022
(1)

[English]

Pursuant to the order of the Senate of Thursday, March 3, 2022 and the order of the House of Commons of Wednesday, March 2, 2022, the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency met this day in room 035-B, West Block, and with videoconference, at 11:11 a.m. ET, for the purpose of holding its organization meeting, pursuant to rule 12-13 of the Rules of the Senate and subsection 106(1) of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons. 

Representing the Senate: The Honourable Senators Boniface and Harder, P.C. (2).

Representing the Senate by videoconference: The Honourable Senator Carignan, P.C. (1).

Representing the House of Commons:  Rachel Bendayan, Larry Brock, Rhéal Éloi Fortin, Matthew Green, Glen Motz and Yasir Naqvi (6).

Representing the House of Commons by videoconference: Arif Virani (1).

Participating in the meeting: Miriam Burke, Procedural Clerk, House of Commons; Vincent Labrosse, Procedural Clerk, Senate of Canada; Stephanie Feldman and Brendan Naef, analysts, Library of Parliament.

The joint clerk for the Senate presided over the election of the joint chair for the Senate.

The Honourable Senator Harder, P.C. moved:

That the Honourable Senator Boniface be elected Senate chair of the committee.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The joint chair for the Senate presided over the election of the deputy chair for the Senate.

Mr. Fortin moved:

That the Honourable Senator Carignan, P.C. be elected as deputy chair, representing the Senate, of this committee.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The joint clerk for the House of Commons presided over the election of the joint chairs and vice-chairs for the House of Commons.

Ms. Bendayan moved:

That Mr. Fortin be elected as one of the chairs, representing the House of Commons, of this committee.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Brock moved:

That Mr. Green be elected be elected as one of the chairs, representing the House of Commons, of this committee.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Naqvi moved:

That Mr. Virani be elected as first vice-chair of this committee.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Brock moved:

That Mr. Motz be elected as second vice-chair of this committee.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Harder, P.C. moved:

That the committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the chairs, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Motz moved:

That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be composed of the chairs, the vice-chairs from the House of Commons, and all four Senate members of the committee; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

After debate, the motion was withdrawn with leave.

Mr. Green moved:

That the chairs be empowered to direct communications officer(s) assigned to the committee in the development of communications plans and products where appropriate and to request the services of the Senate Communications Directorate and of the House of Commons Social Media Team for the purposes of the promotion of their work.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Harder, P.C. moved:

That witnesses be given five minutes to make their opening statement; that whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statement 72 hours in advance; that at the discretion of the chairs, the order of questions for the first round of questioning shall be as follows: four minutes House of Commons Conservative, four minutes House of Commons Liberal, four minutes House of Commons Bloc Québécois (BQ), four minutes House of Commons New Democratic Party (NDP) and four minutes for each senator, and that the questioning during the second round shall be divided as follows: three minutes House of Commons Liberal, three minutes House of Commons Conservative, three minutes House of Commons Liberal, two minutes House of Commons BQ and two minutes House of Commons NDP.

After debate, Mr. Motz moved:

That the motion be amended by replacing all words after the words “as follows” with the following: “three minutes Conservative House of Commons, three minutes House of Commons Liberal, two minutes House of Commons Bloc Québécois (BQ), two minutes House of Commons New Democratic Party (NDP) and two minutes each for two senators on a rotational basis to be determined by the Senate parliamentary groups.”

After debate, the question being put on the motion in amendment, it was adopted.

The question being put on the motion as amended, it was adopted.

Mr. Brock moved:

That the joint clerks of the committee be authorized to distribute to the members of the committee only documents that are available in both official languages; and that witnesses be advised accordingly.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Green moved:

That the joint clerks of the committee be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide snacks and beverages for the committee and its subcommittees.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Harder, P.C. moved:

That either chair or, in accordance with the direction of the chairs, either joint clerk be authorized to approve payment of expenditures of the committee.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Green moved:

That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses including child care and/or personal attendant care and/or the cost of an approved headset be reimbursed to witnesses upon application, not exceeding two representatives per organization; and that, in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the chairs.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Brock moved:

That each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff person at an in camera meeting and that one additional person from each House officer’s office be allowed to be present and, for the Senate, that the Office of the leader of the Government and/or the leader or facilitator of each recognized party or parliamentary group be entitled to one additional staff member at these meetings, provided that all committee members and staff present shall take the oath of secrecy as set out in subsection 62(3) of the Emergencies Act.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Fortin moved:

That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be kept with the joint clerks for consultation by members of the committee, or by their staff, providing that they have taken the oath of secrecy as set out in subsection 62(3) of the Emergencies Act; and that the transcripts be destroyed when the committee ceases to exist.

After debate, Mr. Green moved:

That the motion be amended by removing the word “or” after the word “the committee”, by adding following: “or by the analysts” after the word “staff”, and by deleting all the words after “Emergencies Act”.

After debate, the question being put on the motion in amendment, it was adopted.

The question being put on the motion as amended, it was adopted.

Mr. Green moved:

That the committee publish its public proceedings in both official languages.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Naqvi moved:

That a 48-hour notice, interpreted as two nights, be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the committee, unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration, provided that: (1) the notice be filed with the joint clerks of the committee no later than 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday; (2) the motion be distributed to Members and the offices of the whips of each recognized party in the House of Commons and recognized party or parliamentary group in the Senate in both official languages by the joint clerks on the same day the said notice was transmitted if it was received no later than the deadline hour; (3) notices received after the deadline hour or on non-business days be deemed to have been received during the next business day; and that when the committee is travelling on official business, no substantive motion may be moved.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Green moved:

That the joint clerks inform each witness who is to appear before the committee that the 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 chairs advise the committee, at the start of each meeting, of any witness who did not perform the required technical tests.

After debate, the Honourable Senator Carignan, P.C. moved:

That the motion be amended by adding the following after the word “tests.”: “; And that the committee strongly recommends that witnesses who can appear in person pursuant to the order adopted by the House of Commons on March 2, 2022, be encouraged to do so.”

After debate, the question being put on the motion in amendment, it was adopted on the following vote:

YEAS

The Honourable Senators Boniface, Carignan, P.C., Harder P.C. and Mr. Fortin, Mr. Brock,
 Mr. Motz – 6

NAYS

Mr. Green, Ms. Bendayan, Mr. Naqvi, Mr. Virani – 4

ABSTENTIONS

NIL

The question being put on the motion as amended, it was adopted.

Mr. Bendayan moved:

That all documents submitted for committee business that do not come from a federal department, members’ or senators’ offices, or that have not been translated by the Translation Bureau, be sent for prior linguistic review by the Translation Bureau before being distributed to members.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Green moved:

That an interim budget of $50,000 be adopted and sent to the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons for approval.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

At 12:39 p.m., the committee suspended.

At 12:54 p.m., the committee resumed.

The committee considered a draft report.

Mr. Green moved:

That the report, as amended, be adopted.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

At 1:25 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chairs.

ATTEST:

Paul Cardegna

Mark Palmer

Joint Clerks of the Committee