Evidence of meeting #1 for Canada-China Relations in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
Mr. Chair, unless I'm mistaken, I believe that I proposed—and the clerk agreed—that we restart the work as set out in the work plan submitted by the analysts, beginning with the specific situation in Hong Kong.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
Thank you for reminding me. You're right.
Are there any other comments on this motion?
Those in favour of the motion raise their hands.
Mr. Harris.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Mr. Chair, I did have my hand up.
I think the implication of Mr. Bergeron's motion is that both work plans go to the subcommittee, so that the scheduling or whatever fixes may need to be done can be done there instead of just adopting the existing work plans.
Is that inherent in your motion, Mr. Bergeron?
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
I believe that, for the details, a subcommittee meeting will be necessary. This brings me to the question of whether a motion is needed to establish the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
Wasn't this one of the routine motions at the start?
The clerk says that this has already been done.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
I propose that instead of going back to the subcommittee specifically on the Hong Kong study, we leave it to the discretion of the chair to seek to schedule as soon as possible the witnesses we had already proposed. I think this is the most expeditious way of moving forward on that.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Sorry, I'm objecting to that. The study was there, but it was over a month and a half ago. Mr. Genuis wants to have one more meeting. I don't know what witnesses were left. I think we should have a look at it to see whether we need one meeting or two, or whether we need new witnesses.
We've put a considerable effort put into this. We're going to have a summary of evidence. If there are pieces missing that need to be added, then I think we should have an opportunity to add them.
This is a new committee. If we want to be ironclad with the previous work plan, then that's the committee's wish. However, I think it makes sense for us to assess how far we've come, make sure we're not leaving anything out and make a decision in the subcommittee.
The chair can go ahead. We have a meeting coming up. Whenever it's decided that we're allowed to meet, then surely we can continue with some of the witnesses who are available. I don't think we need to foreclose any possibility of adjustments to that committee.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
Thank you very much.
Mr. Oliphant, I see your hand up.
However, before I go to Mr. Oliphant, did I cut you off, Mr. Genuis?
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
No, no, that's fine. We can proceed in the fashion that Mr. Harris proposed.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
Sorry, we're at the end of our time.
However, I think we're clear here. I don't want to summarize, for fear of getting it wrong—and I may have to go to the clerk to get the summary afterwards—but I think we need to have a subcommittee meeting soon, and we need to work towards the next meeting of the full committee on the subject of Hong Kong.
Mr. Bergeron, you have the floor.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
Mr. Chair, I was wondering whether we should discuss how we want to meet. Obviously, we're running out of time. Do we want to continue to meet virtually or do we want to meet in a hybrid way?
I gather that, for various reasons, some members of our committee, such as Mr. Harris, may wish to continue working virtually for a while. However, perhaps we could allow some of our committee members to meet in person again. In that case, we could have hybrid meetings. I believe that we're technically able to organize hybrid meetings that ensure social distancing between the members present and that enable the other members to participate virtually.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
Thank you.
Madam Clerk, is there anything preventing the committee members from doing this?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
I assume that, at this time, the meetings are only being held virtually.
