Pursuant to the motion adopted by the House of Commons on Monday, January 27, 2020, the clerk of the committee presided over the election of a chair.

On motion of Michael V. McLeod, it was agreed, — That the Hon. Wayne Easter be elected chair of the committee.

At 4:01 p.m., the Hon. Wayne Easter took the chair.

On motion of Peter Fragiskatos, 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 Peter Fragiskatos, it was agreed, — That the subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five members; the chair, one Member from each Party, and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

At 4:07 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:08 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Peter Fragiskatos 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 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.

At 4:27 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:34 p.m., the sitting resumed.

On motion of Peter Fragiskatos, it was agreed, — That witnesses be given ten minutes for their opening statement; that, at the discretion of the chair, during questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows:

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, Conservative Party, five minutes, Liberal Party, five minutes, Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes and New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes.

On motion of Peter Fragiskatos, 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 Peter Fragiskatos, 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.

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.

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.

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 Peter Fragiskatos, 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.

It was agreed, — That the committee hold pre-budget consultations, and that :

(a) it hear from witnesses on February 3, 4, 5, and 6, 2020;

(b) the Minister and departmental officials be invited to appear before the committee;

(c) the evidence and documentation received by the committee during the first session of the 42nd Parliament on pre-budget consultations be taken into consideration by the committee in the current session;

(d) each party submit a preliminary witness list no later than 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 30, 2020; and

(e) each party submit a final witness list no later than 6:00 p.m. on Friday, January 31, 2020.