On motion of Greg Fergus, it was agreed, — That Hon. Bardish Chagger be elected Chair of the committee.

At 12:36 p.m., Hon. Bardish Chagger took the Chair.

On motion of Michael Barrett, it was agreed, — That Eric Duncan be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Greg Fergus, it was agreed, — That Alain Therrien be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Sherry Romanado, 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.

Sherry Romanado moved, — That the four whips be delegated the authority to act as the striking committee pursuant to Standing Orders 104, 113 and 114, and that they be authorized to present to the Chair, in a report signed by all four whips, or their representatives, their unanimous recommendations for presentation to the House, on behalf of the committee.

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 four whips be delegated the authority to act as the striking committee pursuant to Standing Orders 104, 113 and 114, and that they be authorized to present to the Chair, in a report signed by all four whips, or their representatives, their unanimous recommendations for presentation to the House, on behalf of the committee, provided that the recommendations for the report referred to in paragraphs (e) and (g) of the Order adopted by the House on Thursday, December 2, 2021, shall be presented to the Chair no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, and that the Chair be instructed to present the report to the House no later than Thursday, December 9, 2021.

On motion of Sherry Romanado, it was agreed, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 91.1(1), the Subcommittee on Private Members' Business be composed of one (1) member from each recognized party and a Chair from the Government party; and that Ruby Sahota be appointed Chair of the Subcommittee.

On motion of Sherry Romanado, it was agreed, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five (5) members; the Chair, one Member from each Party; and that the subcommittee work in the spirit of collaboration.

On motion of Sherry Romanado, 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 begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

On motion of Sherry Romanado, it was agreed, — That witnesses be given five (5) minutes for their opening statements; that whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statements 72 hours in advance; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six (6) minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows: Round 1:

• 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 (5) minutes
• Liberal Party, five (5) minutes
• Bloc Québécois, two and a half (2.5) minutes
• New Democratic Party, two and a half (2.5) minutes
• Conservative Party, five (5) minutes
• Liberal Party, five (5) minutes

On motion of Sherry Romanado, 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 Sherry Romanado, 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 Sherry Romanado, 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 Sherry Romanado, it was agreed, — That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by 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 Sherry Romanado, 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.

Sherry Romanado moved, — 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 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.

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

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

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 4pm from Monday to Friday; (b) the motion be distributed to members and whips’ offices 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 Sherry Romanado, 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 Sherry Romanado, 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 wit‐ ness who did not perform the required technical tests.

On motion of Sherry Romanado, 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.