On motion of Yvan Baker, it was agreed, — That Peter Fonseca be elected Chair of the committee.

At 3:40 p.m., Peter Fonseca took the Chair.

On motion of Pierre Poilievre, it was agreed, — That Greg McLean be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Sophie Chatel, it was agreed, — That Gabriel Ste-Marie be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Julie Dzerowicz, 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 Dzerowicz, 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.

On motion of Julie Dzerowicz, it was agreed, — That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence published when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including two members of the opposition parties and two members of the government party, but when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct, that the meeting begins after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

On motion of Julie Dzerowicz, it was agreed, — That witnesses be given five minutes for their opening statement; that whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statement 72 hours in advance; 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.

On motion of Julie Dzerowicz, it was agreed, — That only the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the Committee provided the documents are in both official languages, and that the witnesses be advised accordingly.

On motion of Julie Dzerowicz, it was agreed, — That the clerk of the committee, at the discretion of the Chair, be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.

On motion of Julie Dzerowicz, it was agreed, — That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation 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 Julie Dzerowicz, it was agreed, — That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff member at in camera meetings and that one additional person from each House officer’s office be allowed to be present.

On motion of Julie Dzerowicz, 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; and that the analysts assigned to the committee also have access to the in camera transcripts.

On motion of Julie Dzerowicz, it was agreed, — That a 48-hour notice, interpreted as two nights, be required for any substantive motion to be moved in committee , unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration, provided that: (a) the notice be filed with the clerk of the committee no later than 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday; (b) the motion be distributed to Members and the offices of the whips of each recognized party 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; (c) 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 holding meetings outside the Parliamentary Precinct, no substantive motion may be moved.

On motion of Julie Dzerowicz, it was agreed, — 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.

On motion of Julie Dzerowicz, 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 advise the committee, at the start of each meeting, of any witness who did not perform the required technical tests.

On motion of Julie Dzerowicz, it was agreed, — That all documents submitted for committee business that do not come from a federal department, members’ 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.

Terry Beech moved, — That, pursuant to the motion adopted in the House on Thursday, December 2, the committee proceed to the consideration of Bill C-2, an Act to provide further support in response to COVID-19 and:

1. That the committee direct the Chair to, resources permitting, schedule extended meetings for the purpose of studying the bill;
2. That the committee invite departmental officials from relevant departments to appear Tuesday, December 7, 2021;
3. That further witnesses be submitted to the clerk of the committee in an ordered list by 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 7, 2021;
4. That the committee invite the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to appear for two hours, in addition to the length of her opening remarks on Thursday, December 9, 2021;
5. That all amendments to the bill be submitted to the clerk of the committee before 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 9, 2021, and
6. That, the committee commence clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-2 no later than Friday, December 10, 2021.

Debate arose thereon.

RULING BY THE CHAIR

The Chair ruled the proposed amendment inadmissible on the basis that witnesses cannot appear in person, pursuant to the Order adopted by the House of Commons on Thursday, November 25, 2021.

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

YEAS: Yvan Baker, Terry Beech, Daniel Blaikie, Adam Chambers, Sophie Chatel, Julie Dzerowicz, Heath MacDonald, Greg McLean, Pierre Poilievre, Gabriel Ste-Marie, Jake Stewart — 11;

NAYS: — 0.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That, pursuant to the motion adopted in the House on Thursday, December 2, 2021, the committee proceed to the consideration of Bill C-2, an Act to provide further support in response to COVID-19, and:

1. That the committee direct the chair to, resources permitting, schedule extended meetings for the purpose of studying the bill;
2. That the committee invite departmental officials from relevant departments to appear Tuesday, December 7, 2021;
3. That further witnesses be submitted to the clerk of the committee in an ordered list by 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 7, 2021;
4. That the committee invite the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to appear for two hours, in addition to the length of her opening remarks on Thursday, December 9, 2021, and that the committee express its preference for the Minister to appear in person; and
5. That the committee invite the Minister of Heritage to appear for one hour, in addition to the length of his opening remarks, and that the Minister not appear at the same time as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.