The House resumed consideration of the motion of Mr. Holland (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons), seconded by Mr. Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change), — That:
(a) the proposed amendments to the Standing Orders, laid upon the table on June 8, 2023 (Sessional Paper No. 8525-441-30) be adopted and the said standing orders shall come into force on June 24, 2023, or upon the adoption of this order, whichever is later;
(b) the provisional changes made to Standing Orders 104, 108 and 114, adopted on December 2, 2021, shall remain in effect for the duration of the 44th Parliament;
(c) the order made on April 6, 2022, concerning witnesses appearing before any committee be rescinded as of the coming into force date of the said amendments to the Standing Orders; and
(d) the Clerk of the House be authorized to make necessary editorial and consequential alterations to the Standing Orders; (Government Business No. 26)
And of the amendment of Mr. Scheer (Regina—Qu'Appelle), seconded by Mrs. Roberts (King—Vaughan), — That the motion be amended:
(a) by deleting paragraphs (a) and (b) and substituting the following:
“(a) the proposed amendments to the Standing Orders, laid upon the table on June 8, 2023 (Sessional Paper No. 8525-441-30) be adopted on a provisional basis, with the following changes:
(i) that the proposed amendments to Standing Orders 11(1)(b), 16(4), 17, 26(2), 31, 43(2)(b), 52(3), 53(4), 56.1(3), 56.2(2), 57, 62, 74(2)(b), 78(1), (2)(a) and (3)(a), 83(2), 95(1) and (2), 98(3)(a), and 106(4) be deleted,
(ii) that the proposed new Standing Order 15.1 be amended by deleting the words “the House and its”,
(iii) that the proposed new Standing Order 32(2), be amended:
(A) by adding the words “, in his or her place in the House,” after the word “may”,
(B) by replacing the words “for members participating remotely, the document is” with the words “documents presented in electronic format shall be”,
(iv) that the proposed new Standing Order 35(1) be amended by adding the words “standing in their places,” after the words “ made by members ”,
(v) that the proposed new Standing Order 36(6) be amended by adding the words “, in his or her place in the House,” after the words “present a petition”,
(vi) that the proposed amendment to Standing Order 45 be amended,
(A) by replacing the words “That Standing Order 45 be replaced with the following” with the words “That Standing Orders 45(3) to (8) be replaced with the following”,
(B) by deleting the proposed new Standing Orders 45(1) and (2),
(C) by deleting, in the proposed new Standing Order 45(11), the words “whether participating in person or remotely”,
(D) by deleting the proposed new Standing Order 45(12)(d),
(E) in the proposed new Standing Order 45(12)(e), by deleting all the words after the words “using the electronic voting system”, and substituting the following “the Speaker shall determine whether the member’s visual identity was sufficiently confirmed”,
(vii) that the proposed new Standing Order 122.1 be amended by adding the words “, provided that members of Parliament and officials of government departments or agencies or the House of Commons Administration appearing as witnesses appear in person”,
(viii) that the proposed amendment to paragraph 56(2)(c) of the Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Commons: Sexual Harassment Between Members be amended by replacing the words “debate has collapsed” with the words “no member rises to speak”,
and the said standing orders shall come into force on June 24, 2023, or upon the adoption of this order, whichever is later, and shall expire one year after the opening of the 45th Parliament;
(b) the provisional changes made to Standing Orders 104, 108 and 114, adopted on December 2, 2021, as well as the following amendment to Standing Order 106(4), shall remain in effect for the duration of the 44th Parliament:
“That Standing Order 106(4) be replaced with the following:
“(4) Within five days of the receipt, by the clerk of a standing committee, of a request filed by any four members of the said committee representing at least two recognized political parties, the Chair of the said committee shall convene such a meeting provided that 48 hours’ notice is given of the meeting. For the purposes of this section, the reasons for convening such a meeting shall be stated in the request.” ” ”; and
(b) by adding the following new paragraph:
“(e) the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be instructed to report, no later than on Friday, December 8, 2023, on recommendations for
(i) a new standing order concerning remote participants’ audio standards, along the lines it proposed in Recommendation 5 of its 20th report, presented to the House on Monday, January 30, 2023,
(ii) amendments to Standing Order 45 concerning members voting remotely who experience technical difficulties with the remote voting application.”.
The debate continued.