On motion of Marie-France Lalonde, it was agreed, — That Emmanuel Dubourg be elected Chair of the committee.

Emmanuel Dubourg took the Chair.

On motion of Michael D. Chong, it was agreed, — That Chris d'Entremont be elected first Vice-Chair of the committee.

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

On motion of Emmanuella Lambropoulos, 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 Emmanuella Lambropoulos, it was agreed, — That the subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five (5) members; the Chair, one Member from each party; and that the subcommittee work in the spirit of collaboration.

On motion of Emmanuella Lambropoulos, 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 (4) members are present, including a member of the opposition and one member of the government, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after fifteen (15) minutes, regardless of members present.

That witnesses be given 10 minutes for their opening statement; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six (6) 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 (5) minutes

• Liberal Party, five (5) minutes

• Conservative Party, five (5) minutes

• Liberal Party, five (5) minutes

• Bloc Québécois, two and a half (2.5) minutes

• New Democratic Party, two and a half (2.5) minutes

That only 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 the witnesses be advised accordingly.

That the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the Committee and its Subcommittees.

That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses not exceeding two (2) representatives per organization; provided that, in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.

That, unless otherwise ordered, each Committee member be allowed to have one staff member at an in camera meeting and that one additional person from each House officer's office be allowed to be present.

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.

That a forty-eight (48) hours notice, interpreted as two (2) nights, shall be required for any subtantive 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.

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.

René Arseneault moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), it is proposed that the committee convene Statistics Canada on the following subjects:

1. Update by Statistics Canada on the question of the enumeration of rights holders, and of the results of the work and tests carried out on this subject in relation to the 2021 census questionnaire;

2. The steps to follow, if necessary, to ensure that the questionnaire meets all the requirements of art. 23 of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, relating to how to count the beneficiaries of the 2021 census;

3. Advantages and disadvantages of the short form vs the long form with regard to the counting of beneficiaries.

After debate, the question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to, by a show of hands: YEAS: 9; NAYS: 0.

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), it is proposed that the committee convene Statistics Canada and other witnesses on the following subjects:

1. Update by Statistics Canada on the question of the enumeration of rights holders, and of the results of the work and tests carried out on this subject in relation to the 2021 census questionnaire;

2. The steps to follow, if necessary, to ensure that the questionnaire meets all the requirements of art. 23 of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, relating to how to count the beneficiaries of the 2021 census;

3. Advantages and disadvantages of the short form vs the long form with regard to the counting of beneficiaries;

4. Other questions.

Emmanuella Lambropoulos gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant Standing Order 108(3)(f), the Committee initiate a study consisting of at least 10 meetings to examine the ways that the Government of Canada can:

(a) Ensure the protection of linguistic minorities with regards to protecting the rights of right holders to receive an education in the minority language and in an attempt to protect the identity and culture of the members of the Official Language minority communities;

(b) Ensure the promotion of bilingualism and raise the bilingualism rate across the country;

that this study be completed by June 2020; that the Committee report its findings to the House; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the government table a comprehensive response thereto.

On motion of Bernard Généreux, it was agreed, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be composed of Emmanuel Dubourg, Chris D'Entremont, Mario Beaulieu, Charlie Angus and René Arseneault.