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Minutes of Proceedings

44th Parliament, 1st Session
Meeting 2
Tuesday, December 14, 2021, 11:02 a.m. to 1:07 p.m.
Televised
Presiding
Hon. Jim Carr, Chair (Liberal)

Library of Parliament
• Lyne Casavant, Analyst
• Chloé Forget, Analyst
• Holly Porteous, Analyst
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(4), the committee commenced consideration of the request by four members of the committee to discuss the mandate given by the House and the urgency for the committee to organize its proceedings and invite the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other witnesses to appear.

Motion

Kristina Michaud moved, — That, in addition to the meeting already scheduled by the Standing Committee on Public Safety on Thursday, December 16, 2021, to hear from the Minister of Public Safety and from departmental officials, the committee:

(a) hold, by Friday, December 17, 2021, at least one additional meeting to hear from Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials for a duration of three hours;

(b) plan, prior to the holiday break, to invite representatives from the Border Services Agency and union representatives of the Agency’s employees to appear for a period of three hours and that this meeting be held no later than Friday, February 4, 2022;

(c) plan additional meetings to hear from witnesses based on suggestions from the various parties on the committee, with the understanding that they will provide their suggestions to the clerk of the committee no later than Friday, January 14, 2022, at 4:00 p.m.; and

(d) report its findings and recommendations to the House no later than Friday, February 25, 2022.

Amendment

Pam Damoff moved, — That the motion be amended by deleting subparagraph (a).

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Pam Damoff and it was agreed to.

Amendment

Pam Damoff moved, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words “plan, prior to the holiday break, to invite representatives from the Border Services Agency and union representatives of the Agency’s employees to appear for a period of three hours and that this meeting be held no later than Friday, February 4, 2022” with the following: "invite representatives from the Canada Border Services Agency, union representatives of the Agency’s employees and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to appear for a period of three hours and that this meeting be held no later than Friday, February 4, 2022".

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Pam Damoff and it was agreed to.

Amendment

Pam Damoff moved, — That the motion be amended by adding after subparagraph (a) the following:

“(b) include in this study the following urgent issues in relation to firearms:

i. all the ways that firearms are illegally diverted, including domestic diversion;

ii. the increase in femicides using a firearm and rise in gender-based violence where a firearm in involved;

iii. suicides, mental health and the role of firearms; and

iv. recognizing the involvement of gangs in firearms, the review of the programs that address the causes of youth gang involvement, programs that prevent recruitment and retention and diversion”.

Subamendment

Alistair MacGregor moved, — That the motion be amended by deleting subparagraphs ii. and iii..

After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Alistair MacGregor and it was agreed to.

Subamendment

Raquel Dancho moved, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words:

" i. all the ways that firearms are illegally diverted, including domestic diversion;

ii. recognizing the involvement of gangs in firearms, the review of the programs that address the causes of youth gang involvement, programs that prevent recruitment and retention and diversion” with the following:

" i. all the ways that firearms are illegally diverted, including smuggling across the United States' border, and domestic diversion;

ii. the increasing involvement of gangs in firearms, the review of the programs that address the causes of youth gang involvement, programs that prevent recruitment and retention, diversion and causes of high recidivism rates".

After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Raquel Dancho and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Raquel Dancho, Dane Lloyd, Alistair MacGregor, Kristina Michaud, Doug Shipley, Tako Van Popta — 6;

NAYS: Paul Chiang, Pam Damoff, Ron McKinnon, Taleeb Noormohamed, Sameer Zuberi — 5.

Subamendment

Dane Lloyd moved, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words “the increasing involvement of gangs in firearms, the review of the programs that address the causes of youth gang involvement, programs that prevent recruitment and retention, diversion and causes of high recidivism rates” with the following: "the increasing involvement of gangs in firearms, the review of the programs that address the causes of youth gang involvement, programs that prevent recruitment and retention, causes of high recidivism rates, and programs that promote diversion".

After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Dane Lloyd and it was agreed to.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Pam Damoff, as amended, and it was agreed to.

Amendment

Pam Damoff moved, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words “report its findings and recommendations to the House no later than Friday, February 25, 2022” with the following: "complete witness testimony no later than Friday, February 18, 2022, at which point the committee will draft and complete a report to be tabled in the House no later than Thursday, March 31, 2022".

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Pam Damoff and it was agreed to.

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

The motion, as amended, read as follows:

That, in addition to the meeting already scheduled by the Standing Committee on Public Safety on Thursday, December 16, 2021, to hear from the Minister of Public Safety and from departmental officials, the committee:

(a) invite representatives from the Canada Border Services Agency, union representatives of the Agency’s employees and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to appear for a period of three hours and that this meeting be held no later than Friday, February 4, 2022;

(b) include in this study the following urgent issues in relation to firearms:

i. all the ways that firearms are illegally diverted, including smuggling across the United States' border, and domestic diversion;

ii. the increasing involvement of gangs in firearms, the review of the programs that address the causes of youth gang involvement, programs that prevent recruitment and retention, causes of high recidivism rates, and programs that promote diversion;

(c) plan additional meetings to hear from witnesses based on suggestions from the various parties on the committee, with the understanding that they will provide their suggestions to the clerk of the committee no later than Friday, January 14, 2022, at 4:00 p.m.; and

(d) complete witness testimony no later than Friday, February 18, 2022, at which point the committee will draft and complete a report to be tabled in the House no later than Thursday, March 31, 2022.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, the committee commenced its study of systemic racism in policing in Canada.

Motion

Alistair MacGregor moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study of systemic racism in policing in Canada;

that the evidence and documentation received by the committee during the 2nd Session of the 43rd Parliament on the subject be taken into consideration by the committee in the current session;

that the committee adopt the report entitled “Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada” adopted during the 2nd Session of the 43rd Parliament;

that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request the government to table a comprehensive response to the report; and

that the Chair present the report to the House.

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

ORDERED, — That the Chair present the report to the House

The committee proceeded to the consideration of matters related to committee business.

Motion

Raquel Dancho moved, — That the committee instruct the Chair to report to the House the following:

The Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security call on the Minister of Public Safety to make a decision on Huawei’s involvement in Canada’s telecommunications networks. For over 3 years, security experts, allied countries, the House of Commons, and Canadians have called on your government to act on serious national security concerns and ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G infrastructure.

On Tuesday, September 28, 2021, the Prime Minister promised to make a decision the “coming weeks”.

The government’s indecision has been exploited by Huawei, which sold Canadian telecommunications firms hundreds of millions of dollars in worth of critical equipment installed in their networks. Now, these large Canadian telecom companies are seeking over $1 billion in compensation from the taxpayer to remove and replace Huawei infrastructure from their networks.

Canadian consumers already pay some of the highest monthly fees for cellphone service in the world. The committee recommends that the government reject requests for compensation from Canada’s large telecommunications companies, and that the government inform the committee of the date on which a decision will be made on Huawei before year end; and

that the committee request a government response.

Debate arose thereon.

Motion

Ron McKinnon moved, — That the committee do now adjourn.

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

YEAS: Paul Chiang, Pam Damoff, Alistair MacGregor, Ron McKinnon, Taleeb Noormohamed, Sameer Zuberi — 6;

NAYS: Raquel Dancho, Dane Lloyd, Kristina Michaud, Doug Shipley, Tako Van Popta — 5.

At 1:07 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.



Wassim Bouanani
Clerk of the Committee