Thank you, Mr. Chair.
In response to information we got from the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel for the House of Commons and the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel for the Senate and the committees and legislative services directorate on the rights of committees to procure responses to oral questioning, I move the following motion:That the Committee, having considered the October 24, 2022, briefing note prepared by appropriate experts of the Senate and House of Commons concerning the rights of committees to procure evidence from witnesses, directs the Joint Chairs to read the following statement to witnesses at the beginning of their appearances before this Committee:
The notice that we are proposing be read to all witnesses from here on forward is as follows:
Given their constitutional nature, a committee’s powers supersede statutory law and other privileges, including Cabinet confidences and solicitor-client privilege. When questioning witnesses, beyond the general requirement of relevance to the subject being studied by a committee, there is no specific evidence rule limiting the nature of questions that may be asked to a witness during committee work. Witnesses must answer the questions put to them truthfully. When a witness raises concerns about answering a question or refuses to answer, it is in that committee’s sole discretion to determine whether any reasons for withholding information should be accepted”.