Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the clerk of the committee presided over the election of a chair.

On motion of Peter Fragiskatos, it was agreed, — That Ken Hardie be elected Chair of the committee.

At 6:36 p.m., Ken Hardie took the Chair.

On motion of Raquel Dancho, it was agreed, — That Michael D. Chong be elected Vice-Chair representing the official opposition of the committee.

On motion of Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, it was agreed, — That Stéphane Bergeron be elected Vice-Chair representing the Bloc Quebecois of the committee.

On motion of Robert Oliphant, it was agreed, — That Heather McPherson be elected Vice-Chair representing the New Democratic Party of the committee.

On motion of Robert Oliphant, 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 Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, it was agreed, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five members, namely the Chair, the three vice-chairs and one other member from the government; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

On motion of Robert Oliphant, 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.

Michael D. Chong moved, — That the chair shall divide equitably, among all of the other members of the committee, the time available for questioning a witness appearing before the committee, provided that a member may share or transfer his or her time to another member.

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

On motion of Robert Oliphant, it was agreed, — That witnesses be given five minutes to make their opening statement; and that the Chair be authorized to adjust the time of the opening statement, in consultation with the vice-chairs; 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 Peter Fragiskatos, 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 Peter Fragiskatos, 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 Peter Fragiskatos, 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 Peter Fragiskatos, it was agreed, — That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff person at an in camera meetings and that each party be allowed one additional staff person at such meetings.

On motion of Peter Fragiskatos, 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 Peter Fragiskatos, it was agreed, — That 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: (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 travelling on official business, no substantive motion may be moved.

On motion of Jean Yip, 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 Jean Yip, 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.

On motion of Michael D. Chong, it was agreed, — That all meetings, other than those deemed in camera, be televised or, if that is not possible, then webcast.

It was agreed, — That the Subcommittee on Procedure and Agenda meet to determine a workplan.