On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That Pat Finnigan be elected Chair of the committee.

Pat Finnigan took the Chair.

On motion of Lianne Rood, it was agreed, — That John Barlow be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee .

Lyne Bessette moved, — That Yves Perron be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

Francis Drouin moved, — That Alistair MacGregor be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(3), the election was conducted by secret ballot.

The ballots having been counted, Yves Perron was declared duly elected Second Vice-Chair.

On motion of Francis Drouin, 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 Francis Drouin, 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 party; and that the subcommittee work in the spirit of collaboration.

Francis Drouin 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 governement, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

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 and publish evidence 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; and that in the case of previously scheduled meetings taking place outside of the parliamentary precinct, the committee members in attendance be required to wait for 15 minutes following the designated start of the meeting before they may proceed to hear witnesses and receive evidence, regardless of whether opposition or government members are present.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That witnesses be given ten minutes for their opening statement; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party in the following order: 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, Conservative Party, five minutes, Liberal Party, five minutes, Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes, New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes.

On motion of Francis Drouin, 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 Francis Drouin, 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 Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses not exceeding two (2) representatives per organization, provided that, in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.

On motion of Francis Drouin, 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 Francis Drouin, 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 Francis Drouin, 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. 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 Francis Drouin, 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 Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That the Committee undertake a study of the subject matter of clauses 44, 46, 53 and 59 of Bill C-4, An Act to implement the Agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States as requested by the Standing Committee on International Trade; that the Committee invite officials from the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, as well as stakeholders, to appear on Thursday, February 20, 2020, during a three-hour meeting; and that the Committee respond to the Standing Committee on International Trade by the Tuesday, February 25, 2020 deadline.