On motion of Ruby Sahota, it was agreed, — That Sven Spengemann be elected Chair of the committee.

At 3:38 p.m., Sven Spengemann took the Chair.

On motion of Garnett Genuis, it was agreed, — That Michael D. Chong be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

Michael D. Chong moved, — That Jack Harris be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

By unanimous consent, the motion was withdrawn.

Jack Harris moved, — That Stéphane Bergeron be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

Stéphane Bergeron moved, — That Jack Harris be elected Third Vice-Chair of the committee.

Debate arose thereon.

RULING BY THE CHAIR

The Standing Orders only permit the election of one chair and two vice-chairs, therefore the motion is out of order.

On motion of Julie Dabrusin, 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 Julie Dabrusin, it was agreed, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five members, namely the Chair and one member from each recognized party; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

Julie Dabrusin moved, — 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 one member of the opposition and one member of the government, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

Debate arose thereon.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Jack Harris and it was agreed to.

After debate, the question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

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.

Julie Dabrusin moved, — That witnesses be given 10 minutes for their opening statement; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the first round of questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows: Conservative Party, Liberal Party, Bloc Québécois and 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, Conservative Party, five minutes, Liberal Party, five minutes, Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes, New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes.

Debate arose thereon.

After debate, the question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That, at the discretion of the Chair, witnesses be given 5 or more minutes for their opening statement, that wherever possible the witnesses provide their statement to the Committee 72 hours in advance; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the first round of questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows: Conservative Party, Liberal Party, Bloc Québécois and 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.

On motion of Julie Dabrusin, it was agreed, — That 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 Julie Dabrusin, 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 Julie Dabrusin, it was agreed, — That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to have one staff member at an in camera meeting and that one additional person from each House officer's office be allowed to be present.

On motion of Julie Dabrusin, 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 Julie Dabrusin, it was agreed, — That a 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 hour; 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.

On motion of Julie Dabrusin, it was agreed, — That the committee be authorized to purchase gifts to be presented to foreign hosts and visiting delegations.

Julie Dabrusin moved, — 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.

Debate arose thereon.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

On motion of Michael D. Chong, it was agreed, — That all meetings other than those deemed in camera be televised or webcast where possible.

On motion of Michael D. Chong, it was agreed, — That, pursuant to Standing Orders 108(1) and 108(2), a Subcommittee on International Human Rights to be chaired by a member elected by the subcommittee, be established to inquire into matters relating to the promotion of respect for international human rights, as may be referred to it by the committee;

That, the subcommittee be chaired by a member of the government and be composed of eight members or associate members of which four shall be government members, two shall be from the Conservative Party, one from the Bloc Québécois and one from the New Democratic Party, to be named following the usual consultations with the Whips;

That, the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development be granted the authority to print from day to day such papers and evidence as may be ordered by them, pursuant to Standing Order 108(1)(a).

That, the subcommittee be empowered to send for persons, papers and records, to receive evidence, to sit during a time when the committee is not sitting in Ottawa, to sit when the committee is sitting outside the Parliamentary Precinct and to sit during periods when the House stands adjourned; and

That, the Chair of the subcommittee meet with the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the committee at their mutual discretion.

Julie Dabrusin moved, — That the committee may meet in camera only for the following purposes:

(a) to consider a draft report;

(b) to attend briefings concerning national security;

(c) to consider lists of witnesses;

(d) for any other reason, with the unanimous consent of the committee;

That all votes taken in camera, with the exception of votes regarding the consideration of draft reports, be recorded in the Minutes of Proceedings, including how each member voted when recorded votes are requested;

That any motion to sit in camera is debatable and amendable.

On motion of Jack Harris, it was agreed, — That the debate be now adjourned.

Ruby Sahota moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee undertake a study on challenges facing populations living in fragile contexts, including an examination of issues such as education of refugee and displaced children; gender equality in fragile contexts; children on the move; children in conflict; child protection; children and peacebuilding; and other related issues including the effects of COVID-19, resource scarcity, health and nutrition; examining such cases and conflicts as Syria; Yemen; Myanmar; Venezuela; Ethiopia; and Afghanistan; that the concept note prepared by the Library of Parliament in the first session of the 43rd Parliament serve as the scope for this study; and that the Committee report its findings back to the House.

By unanimous consent, the motion was withdrawn.

On motion of Michael D. Chong, it was agreed, — That motions for consideration of future business by the subcommittee be submitted to the clerk no later than end of business day Thursday October 15, that the subcommittee on agenda and procedure meet this Friday, October 16, to discuss future committee business and that the subcommittee on agenda and procedure report back to the committee next week.

Michael D. Chong moved, — That the Minister of Foreign Affairs be invited to the committee to discuss the Main Estimates 2020-21 for 2 hours and that the Minister of International Development be invited separately to the committee to discuss the Main Estimates for two hours.

After debate, the question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That the Minister of Foreign Affairs be invited to the committee to discuss the Main Estimates 2020-21 for 2 hours and that the Minister of International Development be invited separately to the committee to discuss the Main Estimates and her mandate letter for two hours.

At 5:32 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.