Evidence of meeting #9 for Declaration of Emergency in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was laws.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Joint Clerk of the Committee  Mr. Paul Cardegna
François Daigle  Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada, Department of Justice
Peter Harder  Senator, Ontario, PSG
Joint Chair  Hon. Gwen Boniface (Senator, Ontario, ISG)
Claude Carignan  Senator, Quebec (Mille Isles), C
Larry W. Campbell  Senator, British Columbia, CSG
Jenifer Aitken  Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Central Agencies Portfolio, Department of Justice
Rob Stewart  Deputy Minister, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

9:10 p.m.

Bloc

The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin

Do you want to present that motion now, Mr. Green?

9:10 p.m.

NDP

The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green

I'm tabling my motion in my time. That's correct.

9:10 p.m.

Bloc

The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin

Right.

9:10 p.m.

Liberal

Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC

Mr. Chair, I'd like my name to be on the list of speakers.

9:10 p.m.

Bloc

The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin

Yes, Ms. Bendayan.

9:10 p.m.

Liberal

Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC

Is Mr. Green finished?

9:10 p.m.

Bloc

The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin

I think so.

9:10 p.m.

Liberal

Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to propose an amendment to Mr. Green's motion.

9:10 p.m.

Bloc

The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin

I want to clarify something.

If I understand correctly, Mr. Green is relinquishing his three minutes of speaking time; he doesn't want to ask the witness questions.

9:10 p.m.

Liberal

Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC

He doesn't have three minutes...

9:10 p.m.

Bloc

The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin

He is relinquishing his three minutes of speaking time and wants to present his motion.

9:10 p.m.

Senator, British Columbia, CSG

Larry W. Campbell

There's a loss of audio.

9:10 p.m.

Liberal

Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC

Senator, the chair is just consulting the clerk on a matter of procedure.

9:10 p.m.

Bloc

The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin

Mr. Green, I gather that you want to present a motion and Ms. Bendayan wants to speak.

I'm going to ask committee members whether they agree to continue the round of questions, knowing that Mr. Green will not be asking questions. After the round of questions, Mr. Green will be able to present his motion. So we will release the witnesses at the point when we debate the motion, which may take some time.

9:10 p.m.

NDP

The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green

Respectfully, as a point of order, that direction is not in order. I am duly entitled, given the notice of motion. It is a properly moved motion. It's in order. I have time. I'm able to do it. I'm moving the motion.

9:10 p.m.

Bloc

The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin

I agree with you, Mr. Green.

9:10 p.m.

Senator, British Columbia, CSG

Larry W. Campbell

Mr. Chair, could I—

9:10 p.m.

Bloc

The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin

Just a minute, Mr. Campbell.

Mr. Green, I understand that you want to present your motion. What I'm asking committee members is whether they want you to do it now or they want us to finish the round of questions. I believe there are still three...

9:10 p.m.

NDP

The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green

There's a motion on the floor, respectfully, Mr. Chair. The motion is on the floor.

9:10 p.m.

Bloc

The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin

I understand that you are opposed to us finishing the round of questions, but I'm asking the other committee members the question.

Do the members want us to finish the last three questions from senators before discussing Mr. Green's motion or do they prefer that we discuss it right away?

9:10 p.m.

NDP

The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green

This whole intervention just took up the time that it could have been passed.

9:10 p.m.

Bloc

The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin

I understand that you object to us continuing the round of questions, Mr. Green. You want to present the motion right away.

9:10 p.m.

NDP

The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green

Yes, the motion's on the floor.

June 7th, 2022 / 9:10 p.m.

Bloc

The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin

Right.

Because we don't have unanimous consent, we will study Mr. Green's motion. It may be that the three senators' three minutes of speaking time won't get used.

Mr. Green, I understood.

I think it was Ms. Bendayan's turn to speak to your motion.

9:10 p.m.

Liberal

Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC

I'll be very brief, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank people for their patience.

I propose to amend Mr. Green's motion by adding “dans le cas où ils existeraient” at the very end of the sentence.

I'm going to read my amendment in English.

At the very end of the sentence that is before you, members, I propose to amend the motion by adding the words “should they exist”. The reason for this amendment is that, as we heard in earlier testimony this evening during the meeting from the deputy minister of justice, no such secret orders in council exist. That is his testimony, and the motion, as written, presupposes the existence of secret orders in council.

We are happy to vote in favour of the motion and have an official response given to the question. However, we would ask that the amendment be added in order that we don't presuppose the existence of any such documents.