Science and Research Committee on June 18th, 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 am now ready to receive motions for the chair.

Mr. Noormohamed.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

I would like to nominate Mrs. Zahid as chair.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved my Mr. Noormohamed that Ms. Zahid be elected as chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions?

Seeing none, I will now put the motion to the committee.

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Ms. Zahid duly elected chair of the committee.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Clerk]

I invite Ms. Zahid to take the chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Hello and good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for your trust in me to be the chair of this committee. I'm really looking forward to working with all of you to make sure that we do some meaningful work on this committee. It is an honour to be here with all of you and to be the chair. I'm looking forward to it.

Are all committee members okay to proceed with the election of the vice-chairs? Are we good? Okay.

I'll pass it on to the clerk.

[The Clerk]

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the first vice-chair must be a member of the official opposition.

I am now prepared to receive motions for the first vice-chair.

Mr. Ho.

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

I'd like to nominate my colleague Tony Baldinelli to be vice-chair.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Mr. Ho that Mr. Baldinelli be elected as first vice-chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions?

Seeing none, I will now put the motion to the committee.

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Baldinelli duly elected first vice-chair of the committee.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the second vice‑chair must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition.

I'm now prepared to receive motions for the second vice‑chair.

Ms. Jaczek.

[Helena Jaczek, Liberal, Markham—Stouffville, ON]

I would like to nominate MP Blanchette-Joncas.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Ms. Jaczek that Mr. Blanchette‑Joncas be elected as second vice‑chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions?

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Blanchette‑Joncas duly elected second vice‑chair of the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Clerk.

Congratulations to both vice-chairs on your election and on being appointed as vice-chairs.

Before we continue, there are a few things I need to say.

I would ask all in-person participants to consult the guidelines written on the 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 also notice a QR code on the card, which links to a short awareness video. Please have a look at that.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference—no one is doing that today, but for future purposes—click on the microphone icon to activate your mic, and please mute yourself when you are not speaking. For those on Zoom, at the bottom of your screen you can select the appropriate channel for interpretation—floor, English or French. For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel.

I'll remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair. For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can. We appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.

If you are all in agreement, I would like to go to the next item, which is the adoption of the routine motions.

The committee can adopt these motions one after the other in a group, or we can adopt them as a total group. These routine motions have been adopted by the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

The first one is about analyst services. I will read that so we can have our analysts.

It is:

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.

(Motion agreed to)

Okay, we can have our analysts come up and take their seats. Thank you.

Now we will proceed to the other routine motions.

What is the desire of the committee? Should they be adopted as a group, or should they be read one by one and adopted?

Mr. Baldinelli.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON]

Congratulations, Chair, on your appointment. We all look forward to working with you.

I would suggest that we could approve all of these with unanimous consent, if we have that, and adopt all the motions as a group.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Mr. Baldinelli.

Do all the members have the routine motions?

Do you want me to read them, or will we adopt them?

Regarding all the routine motions, including those related to the subcommittee on agenda and procedure; meeting without a quorum; travel; time for opening remarks and questioning of witnesses; document distribution; working meals; travel, accommodation and living expenses of witnesses; access to in camera meetings; transcripts of in camera meetings; notices of motion; orders of reference from the House respecting bills; whips' access to digital binders; and the maintenance of order and decorum, is it the will of the committee to adopt all those motions?

(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

We'll go to Mr. Taleeb Noormohamed and then Mr. Baldinelli.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

Madam Chair, I was going to suggest that if we have dispensed with all the items that are required, and given that there is obviously now work for you to do as the chair and for all of us to go back and start to think about, perhaps we can move to adjourn the meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Is it the will of the committee to adjourn the meeting?

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

No.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Okay.

Mr. Baldinelli.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

As we are in committee business, I want to propose a motion that carries on some of the work from the previous Parliament with regard to two studies that were completed by the science committee, yet not tabled for government response.

I want to propose a motion. I move:

Given the tireless work that committee members, staff, the clerk, analysts, and witnesses contributed to producing the following report, and given that the report was unable to receive a government response before Parliament was dissolved,

that the committee adopt the report entitled “Distribution of Federal Funding Among Canada's Post-Secondary Institutions” and any corresponding supplementary or dissenting reports adopted during the 1st Session of the 44th 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.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Mr. Baldinelli.

We have a motion on the floor. Is there any discussion?

Ms. Jaczek, go ahead.

[Helena Jaczek, Liberal, Markham—Stouffville, ON]

I would agree. As a member of this committee in the last Parliament, we certainly worked very hard on that report. I would very much like to hear the government response to the work we did.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Is there any other discussion?

(Motion agreed to)

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON]

I have a second motion that my colleague Ms. DeRidder would like to read.

[Kelly DeRidder, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Thank you.

I have a notice of motion for report 13:

Given the tireless work that the committee members, staff, the clerk, analysts, and witnesses contributed to producing the following report, and given that the report was unable to receive a government response before Parliament was dissolved,

that the committee adopt the report entitled “Science and Research in Canada's Arctic in Relation to Climate Change” and any corresponding supplementary or dissenting reports adopted during the 1st Session of the 44th 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.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry, but I need a clarification.

Are you giving notice of the motion, or are you moving the motion?