HUMA Committee Meeting
Notices of Meeting include information about the subject matter to be examined by the committee and date, time and place of the meeting, as well as a list of any witnesses scheduled to appear. The Evidence is the edited and revised transcript of what is said before a committee. The Minutes of Proceedings are the official record of the business conducted by the committee at a sitting.
For an advanced search, use Publication Search tool.
If you have any questions or comments regarding the accessibility of this publication, please contact us at accessible@parl.gc.ca.
Minutes of Proceedings
Conservative
Bloc Québécois
NDP
On motion of Dan Albas, it was agreed, — That Sean Casey be elected Chair of the committee.
At 15:36 p.m., Sean Casey took the Chair.
On motion of Wayne Long, it was agreed, — That Stephanie Kusie be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.
On motion of Ryan Turnbull, it was agreed, — That Louise Chabot be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.
On motion of Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 the spirit of collaboration.
On motion of Wayne Long, it was agreed, — 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, one member of the government; but when travelling outside the Parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.
On motion of Wayne Long, 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 as follows: For the 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; New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes.
On motion of Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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.
On motion of Wayne Long, 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 Wayne Long, 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.
Wayne Long moved, — 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 on the next business day; and that, when the committee is travelling on official business, no substantive motions may be moved.
Debate arose thereon.
Dan Albas moved, — That the motion be amended by adding after the words “4:00 p.m." the following: “Eastern Time”.
Debate arose thereon.
After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Dan Albas and it was agreed to.
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 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. Eastern Time 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 on the next business day; and that, when the committee is travelling on official business, no substantive motions may be moved.
Leah Gazan moved, — That any motion to go in camera should be debatable and amendable, and that the committee may only meet in camera for the following purposes:
(a) to discuss administrative matters of the committee;
(b) a draft report;
(c) briefings concerning national security;
And furthermore, minutes of in camera meetings should reflect on the results of all votes taken by the committee while in camera, including how each member voted when a recorded vote is requested.
At 3:56 p.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 4:01 p.m., the sitting resumed.
The committee resumed consideration of the motion moved by Leah Gazan.
Wayne Long moved, — That the motion be amended by adding after the words “of the committee” the following: “/witness selection”, and by adding after the words “national security;” the following: “(d) potential personal confidential information;”.
Debate arose thereon.
Dan Albas moved, — That the amendment be amended by replacing the words “potential personal confidential information” with the words “respect privacy of individuals in regard to committee business”.
After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Dan Albas and it was agreed to.
The question was put on the amendment of Wayne Long, as amended, and it was agreed to.
The question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to.
The motion, as amended, read as follows:
That any motion to go in camera should be debatable and amendable, and that the committee may only meet in camera for the following purposes:
(a) to discuss administrative matters of the committee/witness selection;
(b) a draft report;
(c) briefings concerning national security;
d) respect privacy of individuals in regard to committee business.
And furthermore, minutes of in camera meetings should reflect on the results of all votes taken by the committee while in camera, including how each member voted when a recorded vote is requested.
On motion of Wayne Long, 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.
By unanimous consent, it was agreed, — That the routine motion adopted earlier today concerning meeting without a quorum, be rescinded.
On motion of Leah Gazan, 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 from the opposition and two members from 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 their designated start of the meeting before they may proceed to hear witnesses and receive evidence, regardless of whether opposition or government members are present.
At 4:15 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.