On motion of Kelly McCauley, it was agreed, — That Tom Lukiwski be elected Chair of the committee.

At 9:07 a.m., Tom Lukiwski took the chair.

On motion of Majid Jowhari, it was agreed, — That Francis Drouin be elected First Vice-Chair of the committee.

Matthew Green moved, — That Matthew Green be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

Francis Drouin moved, — That Julie Vignola be elected Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(3), the election was conducted by secret ballot.

At 9:16 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 9:20 a.m., the sitting resumed.

The ballots having been counted, Julie Vignola was declared duly elected Second Vice-Chair.

Francis Drouin moved, — 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 governement, but when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

Debate arose thereon.

After debate, 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 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.

On motion of Francis Drouin, 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 Francis Drouin, 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 Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That witnesses be given ten minutes to make their opening statement; 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: Conservative Party, Liberal Party, Bloc Québécois, New Democratic Party; 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 and New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee only when such documents exist in both official languages, and that witnesses be advised accordingly.

On motion of Francis Drouin, 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 Francis Drouin, 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 Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — 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.

On motion of Francis Drouin, 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 Francis Drouin, 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. 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 outside the Parliamentary Precinct, no substantive motions may be moved.

On motion of Francis Drouin, 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.

Matthew Green moved, — That any motion to go in camera should be debatable and amendable; that the committee may only meet in camera for the following purposes:

a) to discuss administrative matters of the committee;

b) a draft report;

c) briefings concerning national security;

and furthermore, minutes of in camera meetings should reflect on the results of all votes taken by the committee while in camera, including how each member voted when a recorded vote is requested.

Debate arose thereon.

It was agreed, — That the debate be now adjourned.

It was agreed, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure meet on Tuesday, February 25, 2020 from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m.

Francis Drouin moved, — That the committee invite representatives from the Treasury Board Secretariat to provide a briefing on the parliamentary financial cycle from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, February 25, 2020 and that the briefing be in camera.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to, by a show of hands: YEAS: 9; NAYS: 1.

It was agreed, — That the committee undertake a study on the Supplementary Estimates (B), 2019-20, and invite the President of the Treasury Board, the Minister of Digital Government and the Minister of Public Services and Procurement to appear.