Canada-China Relations Committee on March 22nd, 2021

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Garnett Genuis]

—whereby researchers intentionally make viruses more deadly—

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Point of order.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Garnett Genuis]

—or more contagious for research purposes?

[Emmanuel Dubourg, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Point of order, Mr. Genuis.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Garnett Genuis]

Yes, Mr. Dubourg, I'll take your point of order.

[Emmanuel Dubourg, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Genuis, listen, [Technical difficulty—Editor] problem. Can we please take a break and make sure the clerk and the technician get back the chair?

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Garnett Genuis]

Thank you, Mr. Dubourg.

No, we're not going to suspend the meeting. We have limited time. I'm going to continue with my line of questions for the remaining three minutes that I have, and then I will hand it over to the next person. That's—

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Could you please try not to swear this time, though, Mr. Genuis?

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Garnett Genuis]

Order, Ms. Zann, please.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Please try to not swear.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Garnett Genuis]

Does Canada fund or permit so-called gain-of-function experiments, whereby researchers intentionally make viruses more deadly or contagious for research purposes?

[Iain Stewart]

Thank you, Mr. Vice-Chair.

To my knowledge, the Public Health Agency of Canada does not fund research of the nature you're describing.

I'll ask Dr. Poliquin, who runs our lab, to confirm that.

[Dr. Guillaume Poliquin]

Thank you, Mr. Stewart.

When experiments are proposed that have the potential for gain-of-function applications, they are automatically referred to the institutional biosafety committee to ensure that no such experiments move forward and that any risks associated with them are mitigated.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Garnett Genuis]

Does the Government of Canada allow the transfer of viruses—

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

I have a point of order.

Madam Clerk, tell me the procedure here. Because Mr. Genuis has assumed the chair, is he still able to ask questions? Again, he can ask any question he wishes; I'm not trying to get in the way of him asking questions. I just wonder if it makes sense to briefly pause the meeting for the chair—who I understand is having tech issues—to come back online.

It's just a bit odd that the vice-chair would also be asking questions. I've never seen that happen before. I think there could be a breach in the protocol of the meeting.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Garnett Genuis]

Thank you, Mr. Fragiskatos.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

To that point of order, Chair, when someone takes the chair in the place of the original chair, then that person has to act as chair. If he wants to speak, he has to step down from the chair and pass the chair over to somebody else.

I don't think you can be the chair and deal with points of order, particularly ones that are dealing with your right or ability to ask questions at any given time. You would have to cede the chair to somebody else and step aside from the chair while you're asking questions.

Seeing as you're trying to perform both functions at once, I think it's out of order.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Garnett Genuis]

Thank you, Mr. Harris.

I want to make this as uncontroversial as possible. I'll happily cede the chair to Mr. Bergeron, who I think knows that I have three minutes left. I'll defer to him to allow me to proceed as he wishes.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Stéphane Bergeron]

Mr. Genuis, you may continue.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Does Canada have a policy of prohibiting the transfer of viruses to other institutions for the purposes of gain-of-function experiments?

[Iain Stewart]

Dr. Poliquin, would you like to respond to that, please?

[Dr. Guillaume Poliquin]

The transfer of materials is governed by the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, and the Canadian biosafety standards. They apply to the export of materials from Canada.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I understand that, but it's fairly—

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I have point of order.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Stéphane Bergeron]

Mr. Fragiskatos, you have the floor.