Pursuant to the motion adopted by the House of Commons on Monday, January 27, 2020, the clerk of the committee presided over the election of a chair.

On motion of Sukh Dhaliwal, it was agreed, — That the Hon. Judy A. Sgro be elected Chair of the committee .

At 3:57 p.m., Judy A. Sgro took the Chair.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, 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 Rachel Bendayan, it was agreed, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and composed of five members; the Chair, one member from each party; and that the subcommittee work in the spirit of collaboration.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, 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 members are present, including one member of the opposition and one member of the government, but when travelling outside the parliamentary precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, it was agreed, — 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 minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows: 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 minutes, Liberal Party, five minutes, Conservative Party, five minutes, Liberal Party, five minutes, Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes, New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, it was agreed, — That 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 witnesses be advised accordingly.

On motion of Rachel Bendayan, 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 Rachel Bendayan, 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 Rachel Bendayan, 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 Rachel Bendayan, 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 Rachel Bendayan, 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 on official business, no substantive motions may be moved.

It was agreed, — That, when services are available, meetings be televised or webcast.

On motion of Randy Hoback, it was agreed, — That whenever a minister appears before the committee, every effort should be made in order for the meeting to be televised.

On motion of Randy Hoback, 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.

On motion of Randy Hoback, it was agreed, — That a Member of Parliament who is not a member of a caucus represented on the committee and who seeks the right to speak during the questioning of witnesses ask a committee member beforehand to share that member’s speaking time, and that the committee member inform the Chair before witnesses are questioned that they intend to share their time with the member who is not a member of a caucus represented on the committee; and that the Chair write to the Members of Parliament who are not members of a caucus represented on the committee to inform them of this process.

Daniel Blaikie gave notice of the following motion:

That any motion to sit in camera shall be debatable and amendable, and that the committee may only meet in camera for the following purposes: (a) to discuss administrative matters of the committee, (b) to consider draft reports (c) to attend briefing concerning national security; and that the minutes should reflect the results of all votes taken in camera including how each member voted when a recorded vote is requested.