On motion of Warren Steinley, it was agreed, — That Dean Allison be elected Chair of the committee.

Dean Allison took the chair.

On motion of Kody Blois, it was agreed, — That Lloyd Longfield be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

Francesco Sorbara moved, — That Maxime Blanchette-Joncas be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

Matthew Green moved, — That Matthew Green be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(3), the election was conducted by secret ballot.

The ballots having been counted, Maxime Blanchette-Joncas was declared duly elected Second Vice-Chair.

On motion of Lloyd Longfield, 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 Lloyd Longfield, it was agreed, — 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.

Lloyd Longfield 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, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

After debate, by unanimous consent, the motion was withdrawn.

On motion of Matthew Green, 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 from the opposition and two members from the government; and that in the case of previously scheduled meetings taking place outside of the Parliamentary Precinct, the committee members in attendance be required to wait for 15 minutes following the designated start of the meeting before they may proceed to hear witnesses and receive evidence, regardless of whether opposition or government members are present.

On motion of Lloyd Longfield, it was agreed, — That witnesses be given ten minutes for their opening statement; 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:

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 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 Lloyd Longfield, it was agreed, — 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.

On motion of Lloyd Longfield, 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.

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

On motion of Lloyd Longfield, it was agreed, — That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to have one staff person at an in camera meeting and that one additional person from each House officer's office be allowed to be present.

On motion of Lloyd Longfield, 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 Lloyd Longfield, 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 on official business, no substantive motions may be moved.

On motion of Lloyd Longfield, it was agreed, — That, in relation to Orders of Reference from the House respecting Bills:

(a) the clerk of the committee shall, upon the committee receiving such an Order of Reference, write to each member who is not a member of a caucus represented on the committee to invite those members to file with the clerk of the committee, in both official languages, any amendments to the Bill, which is the subject of the said Order, which they would suggest that the committee consider;

(b) suggested amendments filed, pursuant to paragraph (a), at least 48 hours prior to the start of clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill to which the amendments relate shall be deemed to be proposed during the said consideration, provided that the committee may, by motion, vary this deadline in respect of a given Bill; and

(c) during the clause-by-clause consideration of a Bill, the Chair shall allow a member who filed suggested amendments, pursuant to paragraph (a), an opportunity to make brief representations in support of them.

Matthew Green moved, — That the committe may meet in camera only for the following purposes:

(a) to consider a draft report;

(b) to attend briefings concerning national security;

(c) to consider lists of witnesses; and,

(d) for any other reason, with the unanimous consent of the committee.

That all votes taken in camera, with the exception of votes regarding the consideration of draft reports, be recorded in the Minutes of Proceedings, including how each member voted when recorded votes are requested.

That any motion to sit in camera is debatable and amendable.

It was agreed, — That the debate be now adjourned.

On motion of Matthew Green, it was agreed, — That the committee Chair and staff be authorized to:

• review government responses to recommendations made by the committee during the 43rd Parliament;
• acknowledge by letter, on the committee’s behalf, receipt of government responses where they respond clearly and completely to recommendations or request further information or clarification, as required;
• monitor the implementation of government commitments made in response to committee recommendations, and request further information as required; and,
• report to the committee on these activities in a timely fashion.

Matthew Green moved, — That all organizations that have been subject to a performance audit or a special examination by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada provide a detailed action plan to address the audit recommendations which have been agreed to - including specific actions, timelines for their completion and responsible individuals - to the committee and the Office of the Auditor General of Canada within six months of the audit being tabled in the House of Commons;

That organizations that are invited to appear before the committee to discuss the findings of an audit should, when feasible, provide an action plan to the committee prior to the hearing;

That action plans and progress reports received by the committee be published on the committee’s website.

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

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That all organizations that have been subject to a performance audit or a special examination by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada provide a detailed action plan to address the audit recommendations which have been agreed to - including specific actions, timelines for their completion and responsible individuals - to the committee and the Office of the Auditor General of Canada within six months of the audit being tabled in the House of Commons;

That organizations that are invited to appear before the committee to discuss the findings of an audit should provide an action plan to the committee no later than 48 hours prior to the hearing;

That action plans and progress reports received by the committee be published on the committee’s website.

On motion of Matthew Green, it was agreed, — That the clerk of the committee be authorized to purchase an appropriate gift to be presented to visiting delegations, and that the Chair report it to the committee.

It was agreed, — That the Office of the Auditor General be invited to provide a briefing session to the committee on Thursday, February 27, 2020.

It was agreed, — That the clerk of the committee, in consultation with the Chair, prepare a draft budget in relation to the Annual Conference of the Canadian Council of Public Accounts Committees (CCPAC) and Canadian Council of Legislative Auditors (CCOLA) Annual Conference in August 2020.