The Special Committee on Electoral Reform met in a video recorded session at 1:07 p.m. this day, in Room 237-C, Centre Block.

Ruby Sahota moved, — That Francis Scarpaleggia be elected Chair of the Committee.

Pursuant to the motion adopted by the House of Commons on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, Francis Scarpaleggia made a statement.

Pursuant to the motion adopted by the House of Commons on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, the election was conducted by secret ballot.

The ballots having been counted, Francis Scarpaleggia was declared duly elected Chair.

Francis Scarpaleggia took the Chair.

Gérard Deltell moved, — That Scott Reid be elected First Vice-Chair of the Committee.

Pursuant to the motion adopted by the House of Commons on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, Scott Reid made a statement.

It was agreed not to proceed to a vote by secret ballot.

It was agreed, — That Scott Reid be elected First Vice-President of the Committee.

Alexandre Boulerice moved, — That Nathan Cullen be elected Second Vice-Chair of the Committee.

It was agreed not to proceed to a vote by secret ballot.

It was agreed, — That Nathan Cullen be elected Second Vice-Chair of the Committee.

It was agreed, — That the meeting be televised.

At 1:25 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 1:27 p.m., the sitting resumed.

By unanimous consent, it was agreed, — That the Committee authorize the Parliamentary Secretary to attend the Committee meetings.

On motion of Ruby Sahota, it was agreed, — That the Committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the Chair, the services of two analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.

Nathan Cullen moved, — That a Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of the Chair, the two Vice-Chairs, two members of the government party designated by the Whip and a Member from the Bloc Québécois and from the Green Party; and that the Chair of the Committee be the Chair of the Subcommittee.

On motion of Matt DeCourcey, it was agreed, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words “two members of the government” with the words “one member of the government party”.

It was agreed, — That the motion as amended be adopted.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That a Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of the Chair, the two Vice-Chairs, one member of the government party to be designated by the Whip and a Member from the Bloc Québécois and from the Green Party; and that the Chair of the Committee be the Chair of the Subcommittee.

On motion of Sherry Romanado, it was agreed, — That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence in the absence of a quorum, provided that at least four members are present, including one member from the government party and one from the opposition.

On motion of John Aldag, it was agreed, — That only the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the Committee and only when such documents exist in both official languages and that witnesses be advised accordingly prior to appearing before the Committee.

On motion of Ruby Sahota, 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 Matt DeCourcey, it was agreed, — That, if requested, reasonable travel 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.

On motion of Sherry Romanado, 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 each party represented on the Committee also be permitted one staff person from it's Whip's or House Leader's office present.

On motion of John Aldag, 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 in the Clerk's office.

On motion of Ruby Sahota, it was agreed, — That 48 hours’ notice be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the Committee, unless the susbstantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration; that the notice of motion be filed with the Clerk of the Committee before 4 p.m. from Monday to Thursday and before 2 p.m. on Friday and distributed to members in both official languages; and that when the Committee is travelling on official business, no substantive motions be moved.

Nathan Cullen moved, — That the Committee allot the equivalent of one MP speaking spot per meeting to hear questions directly from Canadians at each meeting with witnesses; that the Committee receive questions from Canadians via the Committee's email address and the Twitter hashtag #yourvotecda and that questions be reviewed and selected by the Clerk of the Committee and posed to the witnesses by the Chair.

On motion of Gérard Deltell, it was agreed, — That the motion be referred to the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure.

Scott Reid moved, — That witnesses be given ten (10) minutes to make their opening statement; and that during the questioning of witnesses the time allocated to each questioner be as follows: for the first round of questioning, seven (7) minutes to a representative of each party in the following order: Liberal Party, Conservative Party, New Democratic Party and Liberal Party; for the second round, five (5) minutes be allocated in the following order: Conservative Party, Liberal Party, Conservative Party, Liberal Party; followed by New Democratic Party, three (3) minutes.

By unanimous consent, it was agreed, — That the motion and the amendment be withdrawn.

On motion of Alexandre Boulerice, it was agreed, — That the matter of witness time allocation for opening statement and questioning of witnesses be referred to the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure.

Luc Thériault moved, — That additional resources be allocated to the Bloc Québécois and the Green Party so that they can each engage a resource (for research, writing or communications) to assist Member with the work on democratic reform until the Committee report is presented to the House.

The Chair took the motion under deliberation.

Sherry Romanado moved, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and procedures meet on Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at 10 a.m..

By unanimous consent, the motion was withdrawn.

On motion of Nathan Cullen, it was agreed, — That the Sub-Committee on Agenda and Procedure meet Tuesday, June 28, 2016, at 10 a.m.; and that the Committee meet Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at 10 a.m. for briefing sessions with the Library of Parliament and the Committees and Legislative Services Directorate.

On motion of Nathan Cullen, it was agreed, — That Members submitt their preliminary list of witnesses by Thursday, June 23, 2016 at 5 p.m..