On motion of Salma Zahid, it was agreed, — That Sukh Dhaliwal be elected Chair of the committee.

At 7:27 p.m., Sukh Dhaliwal took the Chair.

On motion of Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, it was agreed, — That Michael D. Chong be elected Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Fayçal El-Khoury, it was agreed, — That Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe be elected Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Michael D. Chong, it was agreed, — That Jenny Kwan be elected Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Salma Zahid, 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 Salma Zahid, it was agreed, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of the chair and one member from each recognized party; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

On motion of Salma Zahid, it was agreed, — 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, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begins after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

On motion of Salma Zahid, it was agreed, — That witnesses be given five minutes to make 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 of questioning, 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 Salma Zahid, 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.

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

On motion of Salma Zahid, 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 Salma Zahid, it was agreed, — That a 48-hour notice, interpreted as two nights, 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; (2) 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; (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 motion may be moved.

On motion of Salma Zahid, 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 Salma Zahid, 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 Salma Zahid, it was agreed, — That all documents submitted for committee business that do not come from a federal department or 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.

Jenny Kwan moved, — That the committee may meet in camera only for the following purposes; (a) to consider a draft report, (b) to attend briefings concerning national security, (c) to consider lists of witnesses, and (d) for any other reason with the unanimous consent of the committee.

At 7:52 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 7:55 p.m., the sitting resumed.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Jenny Kwan — 1;

NAYS: Valerie Bradford, John Brassard, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Michael D. Chong, Pam Damoff, Fayçal El-Khoury, Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, Jasraj Singh Hallan, Maninder Sidhu, Salma Zahid — 10.

On motion of Michael D. Chong, it was agreed, — That the committee authorize the Clerk to distribute all committee documents to Alex Ruff.

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe moved, — That, pursuant to the Order of the House adopted on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, the committee assess the humanitarian assistance measures to be put in place by Canada to bring relief to the Afghan people; that the Committee invites representatives of the World Food Program, groups of veterans involved in the repatriation of Afghan interpreters and NGOs working in Afghanistan, and that the Committee hold a minimum of three meetings.

Debate arose thereon.

At 8:05 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 8:13 p.m., the sitting resumed.

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

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That, pursuant to the Order of the House adopted on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, the committee assess the humanitarian assistance measures to be put in place by Canada to bring relief to the Afghan people; that the committee invite representatives of the World Food Program, groups of veterans involved in the repatriation of Afghan interpreters and NGOs working in Afghanistan, to do so, that the Committee hold a minimum of four meetings.

Jenny Kwan moved, — That pursuant to the Order of the House adopted on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, the committee assess the immigration measures to be put in place by Canada to bring relief to the Afghan people, that the committee invite groups of veterans involved in the repatriation of Afghan interpreters and NGOs working in Afghanistan and family members, and that the committee hold a minimum of four meetings.

Pam Damoff moved, — That the debate be now adjourned.

At 8:32 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 8:35 p.m., the sitting resumed.

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

YEAS: Valerie Bradford, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Pam Damoff, Fayçal El-Khoury, Maninder Sidhu, Salma Zahid — 6;

NAYS: John Brassard, Michael D. Chong, Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, Jasraj Singh Hallan, Jenny Kwan — 5.