On motion of Michael Barrett, it was agreed, — That David Sweet be elected Chair of the committee.

At 11:02 a.m., David Sweet took the Chair.

On motion of Francesco Sorbara, it was agreed, — That Brenda Shanahan be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

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

Brenda Shanahan moved, — That Marie-Hélène Gaudreau be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

Greg Fergus moved, — That Charlie Angus be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

Pursuant to the House Order of Wednesday, September 23, 2020, the motion proposed by Greg Fergus has been received as a notice of motion.

The question was put on the motion of Brenda Shanahan and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Michael Barrett, Han Dong, Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Jacques Gourde, Patricia Lattanzio, Brenda Shanahan, Francesco Sorbara, Chris Warkentin — 8;

NAYS: Charlie Angus, Greg Fergus — 2.

On motion of Greg Fergus, 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 Greg Fergus, 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.

On motion of Greg Fergus, 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 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.

Greg Fergus moved, — That witnesses be given five to seven minutes to make their opening statement; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows: for the first round of questioning: 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: five minutes to a representative of the Conservative Party, Liberal Party, Conservative Party, Liberal Party and two and a half minutes to a representative of the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party.

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 to seven minutes to make their opening statement; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows: for the first round of questioning: Conservative Party, Liberal Party, Bloc Québécois, New Democratic Party; for the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows: five minutes for the representative of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party; and two and a half minutes for the representative of the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party; and five minutes for the representative of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party.

On motion of Greg Fergus, 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 Greg Fergus, 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 Greg Fergus, 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 Greg Fergus, it was agreed, — That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff person at in camera meetings and that each party be allowed one additional person from each House officer's office be allowed to be present.

On motion of Greg Fergus, 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 Greg Fergus, 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. (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 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.

Greg Fergus moved, — That the committee 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;

(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.

At 11:58 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:05 p.m., the sitting resumed.

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

On motion of Greg Fergus, 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.

At 12:10 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:15 p.m., the sitting resumed.

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

It was agreed, — That, where practicable and possible, all meetings other than those deemed in camera will be televised or, if is not possible, then webcast.

Marie-Hélène Gaudreau moved, — That the committee report to the House the following recommendation: That the committee recommend to the House the creation of a special committee to hold hearings to examine all aspects of the design and creation of the Canada Student Service Grant, including those relating to the study on the review of the safeguards to prevent conflicts of interest in federal government expenditure policies; government spending, WE Charity and the Canada Student Service Grant; the government’s decision to select WE Charity, an anglophone organization, to implement the Canada Student Service Grant; and the administration of the Canada Student Service Grant and WE Charity:

1. That the committee be composed of 11 members, of which five shall be government members, four shall be from the Official Opposition, one shall be from the Bloc Québécois and one from the New Democratic Party;

2. That changes in the membership of the committee shall be effective immediately after notification by the whip has been filed with the Clerk of the House;

3. That membership substitutions be permitted, if required, in the manner provided for in Standing Order 114(2);

4. That the members shall be named by their respective whip by depositing with the Clerk of the House the list of their members to serve on the committee no later than three days following the adoption of this motion by the House;

5. That the Clerk of the House shall convene an organization meeting of the said committee no later than five days following the adoption of this motion by the House;

6. That the committee be chaired by a member of the Official Opposition;

7. That, notwithstanding Standing Order 106(2), in addition to the Chair, there be one vice-chair from the official opposition, one vice-chair from the Bloc Québécois and one vice-chair from the New Democratic Party;

8. That quorum of the committee be as provided for in Standing Order 118 and 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;

9. That the committee be granted all of the powers of a standing committee, as provided in the Standing Orders, as well as the power to travel, accompanied by the necessary staff, inside and outside of Canada;

10. That the committee have the power to authorize video and audio broadcasting of any or all of its proceedings;

11. That the committee continue all of the business of the following committees: the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics; the Standing Committee on Finance; the Standing Committee on Official Languages; and the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates; and that the documents and evidence received by each of these committees be deemed to have been received by the said committee, including the documents provided on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, to the members of the Standing Committee on Finance;

12. That the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, and the Leader of the Government in the House be among the witnesses ordered to appear from time to time as the committee sees fit.

Debate arose thereon.

On motion of Michael Barrett, it was agreed, — That the debate be now adjourned.

Greg Fergus moved, — That the committee do now adjourn.

At 1:01 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 1:02 p.m., the sitting resumed.

The question was put on the motion and the result of the vote was announced:

YEAS: Han Dong, Greg Fergus, Patricia Lattanzio, Brenda Shanahan, Francesco Sorbara — 5;

NAYS: Charlie Angus, Michael Barrett, Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Jacques Gourde, Chris Warkentin — 5.

Whereupon, the Chair voted in the negative.

Accordingly, the motion was negatived.

Michael Barrett moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Orders 108(1)(a), an order of the committee do issue to Speakers' Spotlight for a copy of all records pertaining to speaking appearances arranged, since October 14, 2008, for Justin Trudeau, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Margaret Trudeau and Alexandre Trudeau — including, in respect of each speaking appearance, an indication of the fee provided, any expenses that were reimbursed and the name of the company, organization, person or entity booking it — which had been originally ordered to be produced on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, by the committee, provided that these documents shall be provided to the clerk within 24 hours of the adoption of this motion; and that the documents be reviewed in camera.

Patricia Lattanzio moved, — That the debate be now adjourned.

The question was put on the motion and the result of the vote was announced:

YEAS: Han Dong, Greg Fergus, Patricia Lattanzio, Brenda Shanahan, Francesco Sorbara — 5;

NAYS: Charlie Angus, Michael Barrett, Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Jacques Gourde, Chris Warkentin — 5.

Whereupon, the Chair voted in the negative.

Accordingly, the motion was negatived.

At 1:57 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 2:02 p.m., the sitting resumed.

On motion of Brenda Shanahan, it was agreed, — That the committee do now adjourn.