On motion of Brendan Hanley, it was agreed, — That Ken McDonald be elected Chair of the committee.

At 11:10 a.m., Ken McDonald took the Chair.

On motion of Mel Arnold, it was agreed, — That Rick Perkins be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Serge Cormier, it was agreed, — That Caroline Desbiens be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

At 11:27 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 11:29 a.m., the sitting resumed.

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

On motion of Ken Hardie, 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 Ken Hardie, 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
Block 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 Ken Hardie, 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 Ken Hardie, 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 Ken Hardie, 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 Ken Hardie, 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 Ken Hardie, 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 Ken Hardie, 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 Ken Hardie, 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.

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 Ken Hardie, 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.

Lisa Marie Barron 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;
(d) for any other reason, with the unanimous consent of the committee;

That all votes taken in camera, with the exception of votes regarding the consideration of draft reports, be recorded in the Minutes of Proceedings, including how each member voted when recorded votes are requested.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was negatived.

Lisa Marie Barron moved, — That each party represented on the committee be entitled to select one witness per two-hour witness panel.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was negatived.

Rick Perkins gave notice of the following motion:

That the Committee request that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard appear before the Committee for a two-hour meeting in the first week of February 2022.

Rick Perkins gave notice of the following motion:

That the following reports of this committee in the Second Session of the 43rd Parliament be adopted as reports in this session:

Report 1, Striped Bass in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and Miramichi River: Striking a Delicate Balance;

Report 4 - Implementation of the Mi’kmaw and Maliseet Treaty Right to Fish in Pursuit of a Moderate Livelihood; and - that the Chair present the reports to the House.

Rick Perkins gave notice of the following motion:

That the following report of this committee in the Second Session of the 43rd Parliament be adopted as a report in this session:

Report 2, Aquatic Invasive Species: A National Priority;

- that the Chair present the reports to the House; and

- that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

Rick Perkins gave notice of the following motion:

That the Committee undertake a study examining systems and requirements pertaining to at sea safety of commercial harvesters including Transport Canada regulations related to vessel design, safety requirements and seaworthiness; and

-examining federal commercial training courses and licensing requirements of mariners before going to sea and upgrading of skills as required; and

- examining the Canadian Coast Guard’s search and rescue capabilities and response rates; and

- that the committee allot no fewer than eight two-hour meetings to receive said testimony; and

- that the committee also accept written briefs from individuals or organizations who wish to submit input; and

- that the committee submit its findings with recommendations in a report to the House.

Ken Hardie gave notice of the following motion:

That, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans commit to a short study focusing on the risks flood control/mitigation systems along the lower Fraser River pose to wild salmon runs and the opportunity to address those risks as we recover from the floods and rebuild the flood control infrastructure.

Bob Zimmer gave notice of the following motion:

That the committee undertake a study examining the scope and effects of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) on Canada's fisheries resources and the degradation of those resources caused by illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing;

- that the committee receive witness testimony from the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Minister of National Defence, officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Department of National Defence and Canadians impacted by IUU fishing;

- that the committee allot no fewer than eight two-hour meetings to receive said testimony;

- that the committee also accept written briefs from individuals or organizations who wish to submit input; and

- that the committee submit its findings with recommendations in a report to the House.

Mel Arnold gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study of at least two meetings to understand the impact of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans re-interpretation of the Fisheries Act regulations affecting frozen-at-sea spot prawns;

- that the committee call witnesses including senior department officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and interested stakeholder groups to testify;

- that the committee adopt testimony received by the committee in its examination of this matter in the Second Session of the 43rd Parliament as evidence for its study;

- that the committee adopt the June 21, 2021 letter sent by the committee to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans as evidence for its study; and

- that the committee report its conclusions and recommendations to the House.

Mel Arnold gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study of at least six meetings to examine how the Department of Fisheries and Oceans develops scientific conclusions including advice that it provides to the minister and how the minister applies scientific advice to ministerial decisions;

- that the committee call witnesses including the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, senior department officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and persons who have directly contributed to the department’s science and science processes to testify; and

- that the committee report its conclusions and recommendations to the House.

Clifford Small gave notice of the following motion:

That the committee undertake a comprehensive study of pinnipeds that would examine the ecosystem impacts of pinniped overpopulation in the waters of Quebec, Eastern and Western Canada, international experience in pinniped stock management, the domestic and international market potential for various pinniped products, social acceptability, and the socio-cultural importance of developing active management of predation for coastal and First Nations communities with access to the resource;

- that the committee invite witness appearances including Indigenous organizations, scientific experts, DFO officials and experts and officials from countries such as Scotland, Norway and Iceland that have conserved and rebuilt fish stocks by balancing pinniped populations;

- that the committee allot no fewer than eight two-hour meetings to receive said testimony;

- that the committee also accept written briefs from individuals or organizations who wish to submit input; and

- that the committee submit its findings with recommendations in a report to the House.

Caroline Desbiens gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study on the labelling of seafood products and that it consider the impact of the consultations undertaken on that topic by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency; that the committee invite the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, the Minister of Health and experts to appear regarding this issue; that the committee hold at least four meetings to do so; that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request that the government table a comprehensive response to the report.

Caroline Desbiens gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study on the Small Craft Harbours program, particularly its findings regarding the divestiture of wharves; that the committee invite the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, experts, government officials and industry stakeholders to discuss this issue, and that the committee hold at least four (4) meetings to do so; that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request that the government table a comprehensive response to the report.