On motion of Randy Hoback, it was agreed, — That Hon. Mark Eyking be elected Chair of the Committee.

Hon. Mark Eyking took the Chair.

On motion of Sukh Dhaliwal, it was agreed, — That Randy Hoback be elected First Vice-Chair of the Committee.

On motion of Kyle Peterson, it was agreed, — That Tracey Ramsey be elected Second Vice-Chair of the Committee.

On motion of Sukh Dhaliwal, 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.

Sukh Dhaliwal moved, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be composed of five members including the Chair, the two Vice-Chairs and two members of the government; quorum of the Subcommittee shall consist of at least three members, one of whom shall be from the government and one from the opposition; each member of the Subcommittee shall be permitted to have one assistant attend any meetings of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure, and in addition, each party shall be permitted to have one staff member from the House officer attend any meetings.

After debate, by unanimous consent, the motion was withdrawn.

On motion of Peter Fonseca, 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 three (3) members are present, including one member from the government and one member of the official opposition; and that in the case of previously scheduled meetings taking place outside the Parliamentary precinct, the Committee members in attendance shall only be required to wait for 15 minutes following the designated start of the meeting before they may proceed to hear witnesses and receive evidence, so long as one member of the government and one member of the opposition is present.

Linda Lapointe moved, — That, at the discretion of the Chair, the witnesses from any one organization be allowed ten (10) minutes to make their opening statement and that the order and time allotted for the questioning of witnesses in the first round be as follows: Conservative Party – six (6) minutes, Liberal Party – six (6) minutes, New Democratic Party – six (6) minutes, Liberal Party – six (6) minutes; that the order and time allotted for the questioning of witnesses in the second round be as follows: Liberal Party – six (6) minutes, Conservative Party – six (6) minutes, Liberal Party – six (6) minutes, Conservative Party – five (5) minutes, New Democratic Party – three (3) minutes; and that, if time permits, further rounds shall repeat the pattern of the first two at the discretion of the Chair.

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

On motion of Kyle Peterson, it was agreed, — That only the Clerk of the Committee, with adequate notice, be authorized to distribute to the members of the Committee any documents, including motions, and that all documents which are to be distributed amongst the Committee members must be in both official languages and that the Clerk shall advise all witness appearing before Committee of this requirement.

On motion of Tracey Ramsey, it was agreed, — That the Committee authorize the Clerk of the Committee, in consultation with the Chair, to make the necessary arrangements to provide for working meals.

On motion of Dave Van Kesteren, it was agreed, — That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses, not exceeding two (2) representatives per organization; and that, in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.

On motion of Randy Hoback, it was agreed, — That, unless otherwise ordered, each Committee member be permitted to have one (1) staff member in attendance at any in camera meeting; and that one (1) staff member from each party also be permitted to attend any in camera meeting.

On motion of Dan Albas, it was agreed, — That in camera meetings be transcribed and that the transcription be kept with the Clerk of the Committee for later consultation by members of the Committee or their designated staff member.

On motion of Karen Ludwig, it was agreed, — That forty-eight (48) hours notice shall be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the Committee; that the motion shall be filed and distributed to members by the clerk in both official languages; and that completed motions that are received by 4:00 p.m. shall be distributed to members the same day.

On motion of Sukh Dhaliwal, it was agreed, — That whenever a minister appears before the Committee, every effort should be made in order for the meeting to be televised.

Randy Hoback gave notice of the following motion:

That the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade immediately undertake a pre-study of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP); that this pre-study consist of not more than six meetings to be held between February 8, 2016 and February 26, 2016; that the Committee travel across the country for hearings; and that the Committee report its findings to the House.

Randy Hoback gave notice of the following motion:

That the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade undertake a study of the benefits of the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement to Canadian business; that the Committee travel to Ukraine to conduct hearings as part of this study; and that the Committee report its findings to the House.

Dave Van Kesteren gave notice of the following motion:

That the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade undertake a study of Canada’s trade partnership with the United States to examine, among other topics, the Keystone XL Pipeline project and the Detroit-Windsor bridge project; and that the Committee report its findings to the House.

Dave Van Kesteren gave notice of the following motion:

That the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade undertake a study of the benefits of a free trade agreement between Canada and the Republic of Turkey; that as part of this study, the Committee travel to Turkey to conduct hearings; and that the Committee report its findings to the House.

Dan Albas gave notice of the following motion:

That the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade undertake a study of the Softwood Lumber Agreement between Canada and the United States; and that the Committee report its findings to the House.

On motion of Sukh Dhaliwal, it was agreed, — That the Committee invite departmental officials on Tuesday, February 16, 2016 to provide a comprehensive overview of the priority trade issues for the Government of Canada, other than the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); that the overview should include, but not be limited to, the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the Softwood Lumber Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America, the Canada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, exploratory discussions in relation to a Canada-Turkey free trade agreement, and the state of the Canada–United States trade relationship.

On motion of Sukh Dhaliwal, it was agreed, — That, the Committee invite departmental officials for a briefing on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Thursday, February 18, 2016.

On motion of Sukh Dhaliwal, it was agreed, — That the Committee do now adjourn.