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

At 3:35 p.m., Geoff Regan took the Chair.

On motion of Michael D. Chong, it was agreed, — That Garnett Genius be elected Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Emmanuel Dubourg, it was agreed, — That Stéphane Bergeron be elected Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Michael D. Chong, it was agreed, — That Jack Harris be elected Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Peter Fragiskatos, 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 Peter Fragiskatos, 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 Peter Fragiskatos, 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 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 begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

Peter Fragiskatos moved, — That witnesses be given five minutes for their opening statements; 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; and

That 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..

Debate arose thereon.

The debate on the motion, as amended, continued.

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

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That witnesses be given five minutes for their opening statements; that the Chair be authorized to adjust the time of the opening statement, in consultation with the vice-chairs; 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, 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 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 Peter Fragiskatos, 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 Peter Fragiskatos, 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 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 meeting and that one additional person from each House officer's office be allowed to be present.

On motion of Peter Fragiskatos, it was agreed, — That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meetings be kept in the committee clerk’s office for consultation by members of the committee or by their staff.

On motion of Peter Fragiskatos, it was agreed, — That 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. (EST) 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 time; 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 Peter Fragiskatos, it was agreed, — That all meetings, other than those deemed in camera, be televised or, if that is not possible, then webcast.

Garnett Genuis moved, — That the chair be instructed to convene a meeting of the committee within five days of the receipt by the clerk of the committee by email of a request signed by any four members of the committee, provided that: a) the reasons for convening such a meeting shall be stated in the request and b) there shall be 48 hours notice of the meeting.

Debate arose thereon.

The question was put on the amendment of Stéphane Bergeron and it was agreed to.

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

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That the chair be instructed to convene a meeting of the committee within five days of the receipt by the clerk of the committee by email of a request signed by any four members of the committee, representing at least two political parties, provided that: a) the reasons for convening such a meeting shall be stated in the request and b) there shall be 48 hours notice of the meeting.

On motion of Garnett Genuis, it was agreed, — That Canada's former ambassadors to the People's Republic of China, the honourable John McCallum and Robert Wright be summoned to appear before the committee at a time, date and location to be determined by the chair and the clerk of the committee.

On motion of Garnett Genuis, it was resolved, — That this committee call for dialogue between representatives of the Tibetan people (his Holiness the Dalai Lama or his representatives and/or the Central Tibetan Administration) and the government of the Peoples Republic of China with a view to enabling Tibet to exercise genuine autonomy within the framework of the Chinese constitution and report this motion to the House

It was agreed, — That the honourable John McCallum and Robert Wright first be invited to appear followed by a formal summon should they refuse the committee’s invitation.

On motion of Jack Harris, it was agreed, — That the committee invite officials from Global Affairs Canada to provide a briefing on the situation in Tibet and Canada's relationship at the earliest opportunity as part of its ongoing study on Canada's relationship with China.

ORDERED, — That the clerk of the committee distribute the Summary of Evidence for the situation on Hong Kong.

Pierre Paul-Hus moved, — That the committee study issues related to national security as they relate to its mandate, for four or five meetings, including but not limited to: cybersecurity and the threat of foreign influence; and that the committee report its findings to the House.

Debate arose thereon.

On motion of Stéphane Bergeron, it was agreed, — That the committee do now adjourn.