National Defence Committee on June 17th, 2025

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ariane Calvert]

Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(3)(a), as the clerk of the committee, I'll preside over the election of the chair and the vice‑chairs.

I must inform the members that the clerk of the committee can only receive motions for the election of the chair. The clerk can't receive other types of motions, can't entertain points of order nor participate in debate. We can now proceed to the election of the chair.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the chair must be a member of the government party.

I'm ready to receive motions for the chair.

Mr. Malette.

[Chris Malette, Liberal, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Madam Clerk, I nominate MP Sousa.

[The Clerk]

It is moved by MP Malette that Mr. Sousa be elected as chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions?

I'll now put the motion to the committee.

It has been moved by Mr. Malette that Mr. Sousa be elected as chair of the committee. Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

[The Clerk]

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Sousa duly elected chair of the committee.

Mr. Sousa, I invite you to take the chair.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thanks to all of you. It's great to be here.

I really appreciate all of you attending. There are members at this committee who have participated in this role before, and some who are new who have quite a bit of experience and understanding of the file. That's very welcome in regard to what we're going to do going forward.

I'm also very encouraged by the intent of the committee and what collectively we, as government, want to do to support the Canadian Armed Forces by way of funding and engagement and by way of many recommendations made at this committee in the past. I congratulate all of you for all of your hard work. I am very much excited about collaborative, cordial engagement within this committee to move things forward, because I think we all share the same concerns. I've worked alongside many of you from both sides, and you are all good people. I look forward to working with you.

I think our next order of business is to elect a vice-chair so that we can get into the formal aspect of the committee.

I have Cheryl Gallant.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Algonquin—Renfrew—Pembroke, ON]

Yes. I'd like to nominate James Bezan for the official opposition for the position of vice-chair.

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

It's unanimous.

James Bezan, welcome once again to the role of vice-chair.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

We will now receive nominations for second vice-chair.

Go ahead, Mr. Bezan.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

I'm pleased to nominate, for second vice-chair, Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay.

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Congratulations, Simon. Thank you for being the second vice-chair.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Welcome to meeting number one of the Standing Committee on National Defence.

Before we begin, I would ask all in-person participants to read the guidelines written on the updated cards on the table. These measures are in place to help prevent audio and feedback incidents and to protect the health and safety of all participants, including the interpreters. You will all notice a QR code on the card, which links to a short awareness video.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, and I'd like to remind participants of the following points.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name.

Members, please raise your hand if you wish to speak. The clerk and I will do our utmost to maintain a consolidated speaking order. I will remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair.

With the agreement of the committee, we can proceed to the consideration of routine motions. You would have received these prior to today. There are a lot of motions there and quite a bit of reading to be done.

Go ahead, Mr. Bezan.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Based on the fact that our whips have negotiated this with all parties and it was agreed to be put in force for all committees, I move that we adopt the routine motions as presented.

(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

The analysts are nearby. Please join the table.

This brings the meeting pretty much to a close because we have put the motions forward and we now have our orders and procedures under way. We would normally adjourn at this point.

Mr. Bezan, I think you've shared something with us.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Chair, in the interest of everything that's going on in the national defence file—from the announcements of new spending, trying to meet the NATO 2% commitment, the announcement of the F-35 review and the AG report that we just saw on the F-35s—there is some work that we can start with.

I would like to move:

That the Minister and officials be invited to appear for two hours on the Main Estimates, referred to the committee on May 27, 2025, and Supplementary Estimates (A), referred to the committee on June 9, 2025, and that this meeting be televised.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

I think that motion requires 48 hours' notice. Is that right?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

As we are talking about future business, we can bring forward any motion to do with future business. I think it would be prudent for us to talk about what work we want to get going on.

We have one day left this week when we can have the minister here. I've talked to the parliamentary secretary about availability. I'm sure she could inform us whether the minister is available or not.

I'd also suggest that we pass some motions to ensure that when we come back from our summer recess, we have an agenda that's ready to go. You can arrange witnesses with the assistance of the clerk and the analysts so that we can start our work and hit the ground running in the fall.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Yes, Sherry, go ahead.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I have had a conversation with Mr. Bezan and checked with the minister, and unfortunately, he is not available this Thursday. I understand that this motion invites him, and he would love to come. It's just a question of finding a time that works.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

That's fine.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

My impression is that we should be in camera at this point because we just passed.... I wanted to have an open discussion with our team.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

Could we first receive the motions being discussed?

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

I have not received this motion.