DEDC Committee Meeting
Notices of Meeting include information about the subject matter to be examined by the committee and date, time and place of the meeting, as well as a list of any witnesses scheduled to appear. The Evidence is the edited and revised transcript of what is said before a committee. The Minutes of Proceedings are the official record of the business conducted by the committee at a sitting.
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THE SPECIAL JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
OTTAWA, Thursday, November 24, 2022
(19)
[English]
Pursuant to the order of the Senate of Thursday, September 22, 2022 and the order of the House of Commons of Thursday, June 23, 2022, the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency met this day in room 025-B, West Block, and with videoconference, at 6:34 p.m. ET, the joint chair, Mr. Rhéal Éloi Fortin, presiding.
Representing the Senate: The Honourable Senators Boniface, Harder, P.C. and Patterson (3).
Representing the Senate by videoconference: The Honourable Senator Carignan, P.C. (1).
Representing the House of Commons: Larry Brock, Rhéal Éloi Fortin, Matthew Green, Glen Motz and Yasir Naqvi (5).
Representing the House of Commons by videoconference: Arif Virani (1).
Acting members from the House of Commons: Julie Dabrusin for Rachel Bendayan (1).
Other members of the House of Commons present: Brian Masse (1).
Participating in the meeting: Stephanie Feldman, Colin Sawatzky and Iryna Zazulya, analysts, Library of Parliament.
Pursuant to the order of reference adopted by the Senate on March 3, 2022 and the House of Commons on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, the committee continued its review of the exercise of powers and the performance of duties and functions pursuant to the declaration of emergency that was in effect from Monday, February 14, 2022, to Wednesday, February 23, 2022.
WITNESSES:
City of Windsor:
Drew Dilkens, Mayor.
Village of Coutts:
Jim Willett, Mayor (by videoconference).
Canadian Trucking Alliance:
Stephen Laskowski, President (by videoconference);
Geoffrey Wood, Senior Vice-President, Policy (by videoconference).
Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association
Brian Kingston, President and Chief Executive Officer;
Jennifer Steeves, Director, Industry and Consumer Affairs.
It was agreed that Drew Dilkens be granted 10 minutes for his statement.
Drew Dilkens and Jim Willett each made a statement and answered questions.
At 6:59 p.m., Mr. Green took the chair.
At 7:04 p.m., Mr. Fortin took the chair.
At 7:40 p.m., Mr. Green took the chair.
At 7:43 p.m., Mr. Fortin took the chair.
At 7:54 p.m., the committee suspended.
At 8:04 p.m., the committee resumed.
Stephen Laskowski and Brian Kingston each made a statement and, together with Jennifer Steeves and Geoffrey Wood, answered questions.
At 8:26 p.m., Mr. Green took the chair.
At 8:34 p.m., Mr. Fortin took the chair.
At 8:57 p.m., the committee suspended.
At 9:04 p.m., the committee resumed in camera.
It was agreed to resume debate on the following motion of Mr. Motz:
That the committee, having considered the October 24, 2022, briefing note prepared by appropriate experts of the Senate and House of Commons concerning the rights of committees to procure evidence from witnesses, directs the Joint Chairs to read the following statement to witnesses at the beginning of their appearances before this committee:
“Given their constitutional nature, a committee’s powers supersede statutory law and other privileges, including Cabinet confidences and solicitor-client privilege. When questioning witnesses, beyond the general requirement of relevance to the subject being studied by a committee, there is no specific evidence rule limiting the nature of questions that may be asked to a witness during committee work. Witnesses must answer the questions put to them truthfully. When a witness raises concerns about answering a question or refuses to answer, it is in that committee’s sole discretion to determine whether any reasons for withholding information should be accepted.”
It was agreed:
That the motion be amended by replacing the words “read the following statement to witnesses at the beginning of their appearances before this committee:” with the words “send the following statement to witnesses prior to their appearances before this committee:”.
The question being put on the motion, as amended, it was adopted.
It was agreed:
That the meeting of December 8, 2022, be structured as follows: one two-hour panel with Jody Thomas, National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister, Privy Council Office, and the Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre, followed by one one-hour panel with GiveSendGo.
At 9:35 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chair.
ATTEST:
Miriam Burke
Angus Wilson (Acting)
Joint Clerks of the Committee