On motion of Randeep Sarai, it was agreed, — That Raj Saini be elected Chair of the committee.

At 6:36 p.m., the Chair took the chair.

On motion of Chris Lewis, it was agreed, — That Mark Strahl be elected Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Sherry Romanado, it was agreed, — That Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay be elected Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, it was agreed, — That Daniel Blaikie be elected Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, 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 Rachel Bendayan, it was agreed, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five members, namely the Chair, the three vice-chairs and one other member from the government; and that the Subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, it was agreed, — That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence printed when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including two members of the opposition and two members of the government, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

Rachel Bendayan moved, — That witnesses be given five minutes for their opening statements; that the Chair be authorized to adjust the time of the opening statement, in consultation with the vice-chairs; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows for the first round: Conservative Party; Liberal Party; Bloc Québécois; New Democratic Party.

For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows: Conservative Party, five minutes; Liberal Party, five minutes; Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes; New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes; Conservative Party, five minutes; Liberal Party, five minutes.

Debate arose thereon.

By unanimous consent, after debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, it was agreed, — That only the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee only when the documents are available in both official languages and that witnesses be advised accordingly.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, it was agreed, — That the clerk of the committee be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, it was agreed, — That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses not exceeding two representatives per organization; provided that, in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, it was agreed, — That, unless otherwise ordered, 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.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, it was agreed, — That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be kept in the committee clerk’s office for consultation by members of the committee or by their staff.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, it was agreed, — That 48 hours notice, interpreted as two nights, shall 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 clerk of the committee no later than 4:00 p.m. (EST) from Monday to Friday; that (2) the motion be distributed to members 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 time; and that (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 motions may be moved.

Mark Strahl moved, — That all meetings other than those that are in camera be televised, or if that is not possible, then webcast.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Leona Alleslev, Rachel Bendayan, Daniel Blaikie, Randy Hoback, Anthony Housefather, Chris Lewis, John McKay, Sherry Romanado, Randeep Sarai, Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Mark Strahl — 11;

NAYS: — 0.

Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay moved, — That all documents submitted for Committee business that do not come from a federal department 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.

Debate arose thereon.

Mark Strahl moved, — That the debate be now adjourned.

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

YEAS: Leona Alleslev, Randy Hoback, Chris Lewis, Mark Strahl — 4;

NAYS: Rachel Bendayan, Daniel Blaikie, Anthony Housefather, John McKay, Sherry Romanado, Randeep Sarai, Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay — 7.

Debate resumed on the motion.

Debate resumed on the motion, as amended.

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

YEAS: Leona Alleslev, Rachel Bendayan, Daniel Blaikie, Randy Hoback, Anthony Housefather, Chris Lewis, John McKay, Sherry Romanado, Randeep Sarai, Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Mark Strahl — 11;

NAYS: — 0.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That all documents submitted for Committee business that do not come from a federal department, Member's 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.

On motion of Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, 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 advises the Committee, at the start of each meeting, of any witness who did not perform the required technical tests.

Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay moved, — That the text of any substantive motion or any motion in amendment of a substantive motion be distributed in writing in both official languages to all Committee members before the Committee begins debate on such a motion.

Debate arose thereon.

The question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay — 1;

NAYS: Leona Alleslev, Rachel Bendayan, Daniel Blaikie, Randy Hoback, Anthony Housefather, Chris Lewis, John McKay, Sherry Romanado, Randeep Sarai, Mark Strahl — 10.

Anthony Housefather moved, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure meet for two hours on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, to plan future committee meetings and the Committee meet to hear from witnesses determined by the House of Commons on Thursday, March 4, 2021 with priority given to the Canadian Ambassador to the US and officials from Global Affairs Canada, but other witnesses from the list also be invited, pending availability.

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

YEAS: Leona Alleslev, Daniel Blaikie, Randy Hoback, Anthony Housefather, Chris Lewis, John McKay, Sherry Romanado, Randeep Sarai, Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Mark Strahl — 10;

NAYS: Rachel Bendayan — 1.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure meet for one hour on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, to plan future committee meetings and the Committee meet to hear from witnesses determined by the House of Commons on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, and Thursday, March 4, 2021, with priority given to the Canadian Ambassador to the US and officials from Global Affairs Canada, but other witnesses from the list also be invited, pending availability.