Information & Ethics Committee on April 23rd, 2021

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Is there unanimous consent to do that?

Monsieur Fortin.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

I just need a clarification.

I agree with what Mr. Barrett is proposing. My understanding is that we agree that the two motions, the one dealing with the absence of witnesses and the one dealing with the lack of due diligence, would not proceed before the committee, but would be included in the final report, which would be produced by June 1.

Is that what we're agreeing on?

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

I believe that is the motion that was circulated and has not yet been moved, but I think Mr. Barrett is seeking assurance from members that if they grant him unanimous consent, they're giving their word that they will agree to his motion that was circulated. That is what he is seeking, Monsieur Fortin.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Is there unanimous consent for the withdrawal of Mr. Barrett's subamendment?

(Subamendment withdrawn)

Mr. Barrett, I will turn back to you. I suspect you're looking to propose a new subamendment.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

No, Chair. I would just ask the chair to move to a vote on Mr. Fergus's amendment, and once we've disposed of this motion, then, with consent of colleagues, I would move the motion that was circulated.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

That's probably the better way to do it.

We'll move, then, to a vote—unless there's any opposition—on Mr. Fergus's amendment to Monsieur Fortin's motion.

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Sir, could we have a recorded vote, please?

(Amendment agreed to: yeas 10; nays 0 [See Minutes of Proceedings])

(Motion as amended agreed to: yeas 10; nays 0 [See Minutes of Proceedings])

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

I think there's general consent to move to Mr. Barrett. Then we'll go through the speaking list.

Mr. Barrett.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Chair, I move the following:

That in relation to its study on questions of conflict of interest and lobbying in relation to pandemic spending, the committee dedicate the next two meetings, Friday, May 7, 2021, and Monday, May 10, 2021, to drafting instructions, and that the committee agree to present this report to the House by Tuesday, June 1, 2021, if possible, and that any outstanding documents be provided to the analysts as evidence to be integrated into the report.

That has been circulated to all members in both official languages.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Is there debate with regard to this motion?

I have a speaking order here of Mr. Sorbara, Ms. Shanahan, Mr. Angus and Monsieur Fortin.

Mr. Sorbara, we'll turn to you first.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Just to speed things up, I will cede the floor to my colleague MP Shanahan.

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Thank you.

We'll turn to Ms. Shanahan.

[Brenda Shanahan, Liberal, Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC]

Chair, again, I welcome these positive developments in enabling us to wrap up the report. I always worry about deadlines too, knowing how translation is often the last thing that's thought of. We're working on a best-efforts basis, as I think we always do. Yes, I am agreeable to the motion before us.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Mr. Angus.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

I'm certainly supportive of these efforts. We do need to get this report done. The Canadian people expect it from us. We have to get it to Parliament. I would like to get this done as soon as possible. As I said, the next thing is to clear up the Pornhub/MindGeek study, which is also very important, and get that to Parliament.

I would like to remind my colleagues that we did agree to facial recognition technology. I don't know when Bill C-11 is ever going to come to our table, but we could be looking to get some good work done in the next few weeks.

With that, I'm ready to vote.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

The last person on my speaking order for now is Monsieur Fortin.

We'll turn to you, Monsieur Fortin.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I, too, applaud this breakthrough, which I hope will continue until the final report is signed. I just want to make sure there's no oversight. I said it earlier, and I'll say it again: I agree with this approach because we can actually be more efficient and look at other issues.

The fact remains that the final report will have to include not only the absence of the witnesses, as stated in the motion amended by Mr. Fergus, but also the absence of a due diligence report, as worded in my other motion, which we won't have discussed in the end. These inclusions should be mentioned to the analysts.

These are important points, and I understand that all members of the committee agree that these items should be included in the final report. I would hope that we won't see a filibuster in the discussions on the final report and that we won't again find ourselves at the end of June without having adopted anything.

To the extent that we are indeed all acting in good faith and moving in the same direction as we have been discussing, I applaud our efforts. This gesture shows a strong commitment to democracy and to all the voters who have placed their trust in us.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Mr. Fergus.

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I've long believed that sometimes we should seize victory. We've all come together after a very contentious debate for a long period of time.

If there's a will, I would like to move that we adjourn today's meeting.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

On seeking an adjournment—?

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Have we voted yet?

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

We have not yet voted.

This is a non-debatable motion, so we'll move to—

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Sorry, Mr. Chair; forgive me. I didn't realize there was a motion on the floor.

I will withdraw that for the time being. I don't want to mess around with the goodwill that we've had around this table, so please forgive me. I withdraw that motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Thank you, Mr. Fergus.

Okay, we'll move to a vote on Mr. Barrett's motion.