Veterans Affairs Committee on June 17th, 2025

[The Clerk of the Committee, Eric Glavin]

Honourable members of the committee, welcome to the first meeting of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.

I see a quorum.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(3)(a), as the clerk of the committee, I will preside over the elections of the chair and the vice-chairs.

I must inform members that the clerk of the committee can only receive motions for the election of the chair. The clerk cannot receive other types of motions, entertain points of order or 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 ready to receive motions for the chair.

Mr. Richards.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Airdrie—Cochrane, AB]

I would move to nominate Marie-France Lalonde.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Blake Richards that Marie-France Lalonde be elected as chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions? I see none.

(Motion agreed to)

I declare Madame Lalonde duly elected as chair of the committee.

[Voices]

Hear, hear!

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

First, I want to thank Mr. Richards and all of you.

Thank you all for placing your trust in me today. I'm honoured to have this privilege.

I think that we can now proceed to the election of the vice‑chairs.

[The Clerk]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

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

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

Mr. Casey.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

I'd like to nominate the honourable member from Airdrie—Cochrane, Blake Richards, for the position of vice-chair of the veterans affairs committee.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Mr. Casey that Mr. Richards be elected as the first vice-chair of the committee. Are there any further motions? I see none.

(Motion agreed to)

I declare Mr. Richards duly elected as the first vice-chair of the committee.

[Voices]

Hear, hear!

[The Clerk]

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.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

This is bound to come as a big surprise, but I would like to nominate Marie‑Hélène Gaudreau, the member for Laurentides—Labelle.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Mr. Casey that Ms. Gaudreau be elected as second vice‑chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions?

(Motion agreed to)

[The Clerk]

I declare the motion carried and Ms. Gaudreau duly elected second vice‑chair of the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

I would like to congratulate our two vice‑chairs and all the members of this committee, which plays a key role in the lives of a number of people. These people served our country, and they often come to share their stories and ask us to help them with some of the issues that they face.

Welcome to meeting number one of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.

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, whom I would like to thank.

You'll also notice a QR code on the card that links to a short awareness video.

I invite all of you to be very attentive to ensure the well-being of our interpreters.

Thank you in advance.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format.

I would like to remind participants of the following points.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. Committee members, please raise your hand if you wish to speak. I'll do my best to stay on top of things.

To help me see—certainly, our clerk will help me—if you have comments that you would like to bring forward, please raise your hand.

The committee clerk and I will take care to keep track of the speaking order.

As a reminder, all comments should be addressed through the chair.

I hope you all had the chance to look at our routine motions. With the agreement of the committee, we can proceed to the consideration of the routine motions.

I know that the committee clerk has circulated a list of draft routine motions that were prepared by all the whips of the recognized parties.

As a reminder, a motion must be moved by a committee member. It's also easier to consider the routine motions one by one.

We'll do that if it's okay, and I have agreement.

The first one, I think, is very important. I'll invite a member to read the motion.

Go ahead, Ms. Hirtle.

[Alana Hirtle, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

The first motion is about analyst services. I move:

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)

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

I would like to welcome the analyst, with whom we've all had the pleasure of working. We're extremely grateful to him.

For the next motion, I would like to invite Madame Auguste.

[Tatiana Auguste, Liberal, Terrebonne, QC]

I move:That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of four members; the chair and one member from each recognized party, as designated by each party's whip; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Is everyone in favour of adopting the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

Go ahead, Mrs. Wagantall.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

What was interpreted was that it be composed of five members. Is it four members or five? It was possibly just the interpretation. I don't know.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

The subcommittee must be composed of four members.

Mr. Chen, you can read the next one.

[Shaun Chen, Liberal, Scarborough North, ON]

On meetings without a quorum, I move:

That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence published when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including two members of the opposition parties and two members of the government party.

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Good.

For the next one, we'll have Ms. Hirtle.

[Alana Hirtle, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

On travel, I move:

That, when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct: (a) the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of whether quorum is present; (b) no substantive motion may be moved during such meetings.

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

We'll now move on to the next motion.

Ms. Auguste, the floor is yours.

[Tatiana Auguste, Liberal, Terrebonne, QC]

Concerning the time for opening remarks and questioning of witnesses, I move:

That witnesses be given five (5) minutes for their opening statements; that whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statements 72 hours in advance; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six (6) minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows: First Round: Conservative Party Liberal Party Bloc Québécois

For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows: Conservative Party, five (5) minutes Liberal Party, five (5) minutes Bloc Québécois, two and a half (2.5) minutes Conservative Party, five (5) minutes Liberal Party, five (5) minutes

(Motion agreed to)