On motion of Mark Gerretsen, it was agreed, — That Ruby Sahota be elected Chair of the committee.

Ruby Sahota took the Chair.

On motion of Karen Vecchio, it was agreed, — That Todd Doherty be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

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

It was agreed, — That the following routine motions be adopted:

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.

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 for whips, or their representatives, their unanimous recommendations for presentation to the House, on behalf of the committee.

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 Ginette Petitpas-Taylor be appointed Chair of the subcommittee.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

That a forty-eight (48) hours notice, interpreted as two (2) 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 on official business, no substantive motions may be moved.

On motion of Ryan Turnbull, 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, provided that members have confirmed their physical presence for the meeting.

On motion of Todd Doherty, 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 (4) members are present, including two (2) members of the opposition and two (2) members of the government, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after fifteen (15) minutes, regardless of members present.

On motion of Mark Gerretsen, 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

Karen Vecchio moved, — That, in anticipation of the committee receiving an Order of reference, pursuant to Standing Order 32(7), no later than the 20th sitting day of the present Session, the committee shall consider the document outlining the government’s reasons for the latest prorogation and, in preparation for that study,

(a) invite the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, and the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons each to appear separately before the committee for at least three hours, provided that in respect of each of them who does not agree, within one week of the adoption of this motion, to accept this invitation for the length of time prescribed, the Chair shall be instructed to report to the House forthwith a recommendation that this committee be empowered to order his or her appearance from time to time;

(b) an order of the committee do issue for all memoranda, e-mails, documents, notes or other records from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Privy Council Office, since June 25, 2020, concerning options, plans and preparations for the prorogation of Parliament, provided that these documents shall be provided to the clerk of the committee within ten days of the adoption of this motion;

(c) an order of the committee do issue for a record of all communications between the government and any of WE Charity (or its affiliated organizations), Craig Kielburger, Marc Kielburger, Speakers’ Spotlight, Rob Silver or MCAP since June 25, 2020, in respect of the prorogation of Parliament, provided that these documents shall be provided to the clerk of the committee within ten days of the adoption of this motion;

(d) an order of the committee do issue to WE Charity (including its affiliated organizations), Craig Kielburger, Marc Kielburger and Speakers’ Spotlight for all memoranda, e-mails, documents, notes or other records, since June 25, 2020, concerning the prorogation of Parliament, provided that these documents shall be provided to the clerk of the committee within ten days of the adoption of this motion;

(e) an order of the committee do issue for the unredacted version of all documents produced by the government in response to the July 7, 2020, order of the Standing Committee on Finance, provided that these documents shall be provided to the clerk of the committee within 24 hours of the adoption of this motion;

(f) an order of the committee do issue to each member of the Cabinet, including the Prime Minister, and to the Honourable Bill Morneau requiring that they prepare and make a return to the clerk of the committee, within 10 days of the adoption of this motion, (i) indicating the date and summary of every communication they, a member of their ministerial exempt staff, or a volunteer in their ministerial office had between March 1 and April 22, 2020, with Marc Kielburger, Craig Kielburger, WE Charity (or its affiliated organizations), or any employee, agent or representative of any of them, and (ii) providing all records of the communications referred to in subparagraph (i);

(g) an order of the committee do issue to require the government to prepare and make a return to the clerk of the committee, within 10 days of the adoption of this motion, indicating (i) what criteria were used by public servants to determine that only WE Charity could deliver the Canada Student Service Grant, (ii) which individuals were responsible for designing the parameters of the Canada Student Service Grant, (iii) who was present at any meeting where the parameters of the Canada Student Service Grant were discussed, and (iv) whether the Canada Student Service Grant was approved through the ordinary Treasury Board submission process and, if not, what the variations were;

(h) an order of the committee do issue to WE Charity (including its affiliated organizations), Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger to prepare and make a return to the clerk of the committee, within 10 days of the adoption of this motion, indicating every corporation, trust, charity, association, entity or individual (including, for greater certainty, those affiliated with WE Charity) which WE Charity and WE Charity Foundation shared, or intended to share, data concerning the Canada Student Service Grant;

(i) an order of the committee do issue to Craig Kielburger, Marc Kielburger, Fred Kielburger, Theresa Kielburger, Dalal Al-Waheidi, Scott Baker and Victor Li to prepare and make a return to the clerk of the committee, within 10 days of the adoption of this motion, indicating the name of every corporation, trust, charity, association or entity in which each of them is, or has been at any time since January 1, 2015, a member, director or officer, together with (i) the name of the jurisdiction in which it is incorporated, (ii) the office in it held by the person completing the return, including the date the office was assumed and, if relevant, vacated, (iii) the relationship it has to any other organization named in the return, and (iv) the name of any subsidiary it owns or controls;

(j) an order of the committee do issue to WE Charity (including its affiliated organizations) and NATIONAL Public Relations for any contract between those organizations pertaining to the delivery of the Canada Student Service Grant, together with all memoranda, e-mails, documents, notes or other records related to the negotiation, implementation and termination of that contract, provided that these documents shall be provided to the clerk of the committee within three weeks of the adoption of this motion;

(k) an order of the committee do issue to Speakers’ Spotlight for a copy of all records pertaining to speaking appearances arranged, since October 14, 2008, for Justin Trudeau, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Margaret Trudeau and Alexandre Trudeau—including, in respect of each speaking appearance, an indication of the fee provided, any expenses that were reimbursed and the name of the company, organization, person or entity booking it—which had been originally ordered to be produced on July 22, 2020, by the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, provided that these documents shall be provided to the clerk of the committee within 24 hours of the adoption of this motion;

(l) an order of the committee do issue for all memoranda, e-mails, documents, notes or other records, including Cabinet papers, in the care, custody or control of the government or of the Honourable Bill Morneau, related to program design for the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance and the subsequent contracts entered into with MCAP for the delivery of that program, provided that these documents shall be provided to the clerk of the committee within three weeks of the adoption of this motion;

(m) an order of the committee do issue for all memoranda, e-mails, documents, notes or other records, including Cabinet papers, in the care, custody or control of the government or of the Honourable Bill Morneau, related to Rob Silver’s lobbying or other representations on behalf of MCAP and amendments to the Income Tax Act pertaining to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, provided that these documents shall be provided to the clerk of the committee within three weeks of the adoption of this motion;

(n) an order of the committee do issue to each member of the Cabinet, including the Prime Minister, and to the Honourable Bill Morneau requiring that they prepare and make a return to the clerk of the committee, within 10 days of the adoption of this motion, (i) indicating the date and summary of every communication they, a member of their ministerial exempt staff, or a volunteer in their ministerial office had since January 1, 2020, with Rob Silver, and (ii) providing all records of the communications referred to in subparagraph (i); and

(o) all documents and returns provided to the clerk of the committee under this Order shall be published on the committee’s website as soon as practical upon receipt.

Debate arose thereon.