On motion of Julie Dabrusin, it was agreed, — That Scott Simms be elected Chair of the committee.

Scott Simms took the Chair.

On motion of Martin Shields, it was agreed, — That Alain Rayes be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Lyne Bessette, it was agreed, — That Martin Champoux be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Tim Louis, 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.

Tim Louis moved, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five (5) members, namely the Chair and one member from each party; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

On motion of Heather McPherson, it was agreed, — That the motion be amended by adding the word “recognized" after the words “member from each”.

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

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five members, namely the Chair and one member from each recognized party; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

Tim Louis 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; and that when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct, the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

On motion of Heather McPherson, it was agreed, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words “one member of the opposition and one member of the government” with the words “two members of the opposition and two members of the government”.

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.

Tim Louis moved, — That witnesses be given five minutes to make their opening statement; and that during the questioning of witnesses the time allocated to each questioner be as follows: for the first round of questioning, six minutes to a representative of the party in the following order: Conservative Party, Liberal Party, Bloc Québécois, New Democratic Party;

That 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 Heather McPherson, it was agreed, — That the motion be amended by replacing all the words after “opening statements” with the following:
“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 ”.

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

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

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 Tim Louis, 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 Tim Louis, 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.

Tim Louis moved, — 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.

Debate arose thereon.

The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

On motion of Tim Louis, 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 Tim Louis, 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 Tim Louis, 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. 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 outside the Parliamentary Precinct, no substantive motions may be moved.

On motion of Anthony Housefather, it was agreed, — that all substantive motions adopted by the Committee to undertake studies or hear from witnesses in the 1st session of the 43rd legislature are hereby readopted by the Committee without modification or amendment.

Martin Champoux gave notice of the following motions:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee undertake a study on the difficulties and challenges facing regional media, issues that have been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with a view to proposing protections that could be introduced by the federal government, and that, for this purpose, the Committee evaluate the possibility of establishing a Canadian Print Media Fund with money generated by taxing the profits of web giants and collecting GST on online advertising; that the Committee devote a minimum of three (3) meetings to this study; and that the Committee report its findings and recommendations to the House.

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee undertake a study on the challenges and issues facing the cultural and tourism sectors in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a view to proposing a survival and recovery plan for these sectors; that the Committee devote a minimum of three (3) meetings to this study; and that the Committee report its findings and recommendations to the House.

Lyne Bessette gave notice of the following motion:

That the committee undertake a comprehensive study to review the government's support to the Arts, Culture, Heritage and Sport sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic; that it consider new measures that would better support these sectors which are disproportionally affected by the pandemic and facilitate getting artists, athletes and the cultural sector workers back to work and competitions; that it also consider measures to best assure and protect business continuity for event, festival, races and tournament organizers in these specific sectors; that the committee hold no less than four meetings on this subject; and that the committee report its findings to the House.

Alain Rayes gave notice of the following motion:

That the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage conduct a general study of at least 4 meetings on the socio-economic impacts of stakeholders under the Department of Canadian Heritage or benefiting, in one way or another, from the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage and the organizations therein being subject to: a) draw up a clear picture of the impacts of the pandemic on their activities; b) better identify their needs during the current crisis; c) identify gaps in federal aid programs; d) identify more effective support measures better suited to their reality. This study should be completed before the Christmas Break.

Alain Rayes moved, — That the committee invite the Minister of Canadian Heritage and department officials from Canadian Heritage to appear to discuss the spending priorities outlined in the Main Estimates, and that this meeting occur before November 24, 2020.

That the motion be amended by replacing all the words after “this meeting occur” with the following: