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Minutes of Proceedings

44th Parliament, 1st Session
Meeting 39
Monday, November 14, 2022, 11:01 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Televised
Presiding
Hon. Bardish Chagger, Chair (Liberal)

Library of Parliament
• Andre Barnes, Analyst
• Laurence Brosseau, Analyst
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(4), the committee commenced consideration of the request by four members of the committee to discuss media reports that the Chinese Communist Party worked to influence the 2019 federal Election.

Motion

Michael Cooper moved, — That,

(a) given the Global News report published by Sam Cooper on November 7, 2022, revealing that intelligence officials informed the Prime Minister and several cabinet ministers in January of 2022 that the Chinese Communist Party actively worked to influence the 2019 Federal Election, the committee extend its study of Foreign Election Interference by four meetings to investigate this report;

(b) these meetings shall be scheduled immediately and override and be prioritized over any other business of the committee;

(c) the committee recall Elections Canada, CSIS, and the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force to testify on the report referenced in (a);

(d) the committee invite The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, to testify on the report referenced in (a);

(e) the committee invite The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to testify on the report referenced in (a);

(f) the committee invite Jody Thomas, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, to testify on the report referenced in (a);

(g) the committee invite Vince Rigby, former National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, to testify on the report referenced in (a);

(h) the committee invite David Morrison, former National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, to testify on the report referenced in (a);

(i) the committee invite Dan Stanton, former CSIS officer, to testify on the report referenced in (a);

(j) the committee invite David Mulroney, former Canadian Ambassador to China, to testify on the report referenced in (a);

k) the committee invite Dennis Molinaro, former CSIS analyst, to testify on the report referenced in (a); and,

(l) the committee order the production of

i) all relevant briefing notes, memorandums and documents presented to the Prime Minister and members of Cabinet referred to in the report, and

(ii) all relevant memorandums, briefing notes, and documents concerning Chinese Communist Party interference in Canadian elections which are in the possession of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, the Office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and the Office of the Minister of Public Safety, provided that,

(iii) these documents be deposited, within one week, with the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel,

(iv) the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Council shall promptly notify the committee whether the Office is satisfied that the documents were produced as ordered, and, if not, the Chair shall be instructed to present forthwith, on behalf of the committee, a report to the House outlining the material facts of the situation, and

(v) the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel shall make redactions to the documents, to protect the identities of employees or sources of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service or allied intelligence agencies, and as soon as reasonably possible, provide the redacted documents to the Clerk of the committee to be distributed to all members of the committee in both official languages.

Debate arose thereon.

Amendment

Greg Fergus moved, — That the motion be amended by deleting subparagraphs (b) and g through k, and by replacing the words in subparagraph l) with the following: “the committee order the production of (i) all relevant briefing notes, memorandums and documents which are in the possession of the relevant government Departments and Agencies, provided that, (ii) the Departments and Agencies tasked with gathering these documents apply redactions according to the Access to Information and Privacy Act, (iii) these redacted documents be deposited as soon as possible with the Clerk of the committee to be distributed to all members of the committee in both official languages”.

Debate arose thereon.

At 12:15 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:48 p.m., the sitting resumed.

The debate continued

Subamendment

John Nater moved, — That the amendment be amended by deleting all the words following “the subparagraphs (g) through (k)”.

After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of John Nater and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Luc Berthold, Blaine Calkins, Michael Cooper, Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, John Nater — 5;

NAYS: Rachel Blaney, Greg Fergus, Jennifer O'Connell, Sherry Romanado, Ruby Sahota, Ryan Turnbull — 6.

The question was put on the amendment of Greg Fergus and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Rachel Blaney, Greg Fergus, Jennifer O'Connell, Sherry Romanado, Ruby Sahota, Ryan Turnbull — 6;

NAYS: Luc Berthold, Blaine Calkins, Michael Cooper, Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, John Nater — 5.

Amendment

John Nater moved, — That the motion be amended by adding, after the words: “as soon as reasonably possible”, the words: “but not later than 14 days after the adoption of this motion”.

Debate arose thereon.

Subamendment

Greg Fergus moved, — That the amendment be amended by replacing the words "14 days" with the words "30 days”.

The question was put on the subamendment of Greg Fergus and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Greg Fergus, Jennifer O'Connell, Sherry Romanado, Ruby Sahota, Ryan Turnbull — 5;

NAYS: Luc Berthold, Rachel Blaney, Blaine Calkins, Michael Cooper, Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, John Nater — 6.

The question was put on the amendment of John Nater and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Luc Berthold, Rachel Blaney, Blaine Calkins, Michael Cooper, Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, John Nater — 6;

NAYS: Greg Fergus, Jennifer O'Connell, Sherry Romanado, Ruby Sahota, Ryan Turnbull — 5.

The question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Rachel Blaney, Greg Fergus, Jennifer O'Connell, Sherry Romanado, Ruby Sahota, Ryan Turnbull — 6;

NAYS: Luc Berthold, Blaine Calkins, Michael Cooper, Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, John Nater — 5.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That,

(a) given the Global News report published by Sam Cooper on November 7, 2022, revealing that intelligence officials informed the Prime Minister and several cabinet ministers in January of 2022 that the Chinese Communist Party actively worked to influence the 2019 Federal Election, the committee extend its study of Foreign Election Interference by four meetings to investigate this report;

(b) the committee recall Elections Canada, CSIS, and the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force to testify on the report referenced in (a);

(c) the committee invite The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, to testify on the report referenced in (a);

(d) the committee invite The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to testify on the report referenced in (a);

(e) the committee invite Jody Thomas, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, to testify on the report referenced in (a);

(f) the committee order the production of

(i) all relevant briefing notes, memorandums and documents which are in the possession of the relevant government Departments and Agencies, provided that,

(ii) the Departments and Agencies tasked with gathering these documents apply redactions according to the Access to Information and Privacy Act;

(iii) these redacted documents be deposited as soon as possible, but not later than 14 days after the adoption of this motion, with the Clerk of the committee to be distributed to all members of the committee in both official languages.

At 1:30 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.



Justin Vaive
Clerk of the committee