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Minutes of Proceedings

44th Parliament, 1st Session
Meeting 58
Tuesday, April 18, 2023, 11:08 a.m. to 1:06 p.m.
Webcast
Presiding
Ali Ehsassi, Chair (Liberal)

• Fayçal El-Khoury for Hon. Hedy Fry (Liberal)
• Hon. John McKay for Hon. Hedy Fry (Liberal)
• Ziad Aboultaif for Hon. Michael D. Chong (Conservative)
• Gérard Deltell for Dave Epp (Conservative)
House of Commons
• Dancella Boyi, Legislative Clerk
• Philippe Méla, Legislative Clerk
• Hilary Smyth, Procedural Clerk
Department of Canadian Heritage
• Amy Awad, Senior Director, Marketplace and Legislative Policy
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
• Marie-Josée Langlois, Director General, Strategic Policy Branch
• Jeffrey Marder, Executive Director, Human Rights and Indigenous Affairs
• Ashlyn Milligan, Acting Executive Director, Non-proliferation, Disarmament and Space
Department of National Defence
• MGen Paul Prévost, Director of Staff, Strategic Joint Staff
Pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, November 16, 2022, the committee resumed consideration of Bill C-281, An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), the Broadcasting Act and the Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act.

The committee commenced its clause-by-clause study of the Bill.

Pursuant to Standing Order 75(1), consideration of Clause 1 (short title) was postponed.

The Chair called Clause 2.

At 11:36 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 11:44 a.m., the sitting resumed.

On Clause 2,

Robert Oliphant moved, — That Bill C-281, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing line 9 on page 1 to line 2 on page 2 with the following:

(4) At least once in every calendar year, the Minister is to publish a report that outlines the measures that the Minister has taken to advance human rights internationally as part of Canada’s foreign policy.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Robert Oliphant and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Fayçal El-Khoury, John McKay, Robert Oliphant, Randeep Sarai, Sameer Zuberi — 5;

NAYS: Ziad Aboultaif, Stéphane Bergeron, Gérard Deltell, Garnett Genuis, Randy Hoback, Heather McPherson — 6.

Heather McPherson moved, — That Bill C-281, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing line 12 on page 1 to line 2 on page 2 with the following:

“in every calendar year, a report that includes

(a) an outline of the measures that the Minister has taken to advance human rights internationally as part of Canada’s foreign policy;

(b) a list that sets out the following information relating to prisoners who are detained or experiencing other treatment in contravention of international human rights standards and for whose release the Government of Canada is actively working:

(i) the number of prisoners detained by each government or detaining authority,

(ii) the circumstances of the detentions, and

(iii) the efforts that the Government of Canada has made to visit prisoners and to attend their trials or hearings, including the number of requests made for such visits and the responses of the detaining governments or authorities; and

(c) a description of the efforts that the Minister has made to improve consistency and transparency in human rights advocacy and to improve accountability to the families of those detained and to civil society.”

The Chair ruled the proposed amendment inadmissible because it was beyond the scope of the Bill, as provided on page 770 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Third Edition.

After debate, by unanimous consent, Clause 2 was allowed to stand.

On new Clause 2.1,

Garnett Genuis moved, — That Bill C-281 be amended by adding after line 2 on page 2 the following new clause:

“2.1 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 10:

10.1 (1) The Minister’s duties and functions under this Act include, in the case of a motion adopted by a committee of the Senate, of the House of Commons or of both Houses of Parliament recommending that an order be considered or made under subsection 6.1(2) of the State Immunity Act in relation to a foreign state, preparing a response advising the committee whether or not the order is to be made and setting out the reasons for the decision.

(2) The response must be tabled in the Senate or the House of Commons or in both Houses of Parliament, as the case may be, within 40 days after the adoption of the motion or within any time limit specified by the committee and must be posted in a prominent location on the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development on the day after it is tabled.

(3) If Parliament is prorogued or dissolved before the response is tabled, the Minister must post the response in a prominent location on the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development within the time limit referred to in subsection (2) regarding the tabling of the response. The response must be tabled as soon as feasible after the commencement of the next session of Parliament.”

The Chair ruled the proposed amendment inadmissible because it was beyond the scope of the Bill, as provided on page 770 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Third Edition.

On Clause 3,

Garnett Genuis moved, — That Bill C-281, in Clause 3, be amended by replacing lines 8 to 11 on page 2 with the following:

“Parliament recom‐”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Garnett Genuis and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Ziad Aboultaif, Stéphane Bergeron, Gérard Deltell, Fayçal El-Khoury, Garnett Genuis, Randy Hoback, John McKay, Heather McPherson, Robert Oliphant, Randeep Sarai, Sameer Zuberi — 11;

NAYS: — 0.

Robert Oliphant moved, — That Bill C-281, in Clause 3, be amended by replacing lines 14 to 31 on page 2 with the following:

“-ister must table a response in accordance with the Standing Orders of the House of Commons or the rules of the Senate that apply to government responses to committee reports.”

Debate arose thereon.

It was agreed, — That the debate on the amendment of Robert Oliphant be now adjourned.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Monday, January 31, 2022, the committee resumed its study of the situation at the Russia-Ukraine border and implications for peace and security.

The committee commenced consideration of a draft report.

It was agreed, — That the draft report be adopted.

It was agreed, — That the report be entitled: "The wake-up call: The world after February 24th, 2022".

It was agreed, — That the Chair, clerk and analysts be authorized to make such grammatical and editorial changes as may be necessary without changing the substance of the report.

It was agreed, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request that the government table a comprehensive response to the report.

ORDERED, — That the Chair present the report to the House.

The committee proceeded to the consideration of matters related to committee business.

It was agreed, — That the analysts of the committee, in consultation with the Chair, prepare a news release for publication on the committee’s website in relation to the recent sentencing of Vladimir Kara-Murza.

At 1:06 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.



Ariane Gagné-Frégeau
Clerk of the committee