Foreign Affairs Committee on Dec. 13th, 2021

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Yes, I move that we refer this motion to the subcommittee on agenda and procedure, and further request that that committee meet in the month of January at the call of its chair and that it consider all motions that have been received by the clerk prior to that, but I suggest that a date of, say, January 7 would be helpful.

I further move that the subcommittee be prepared to report with a proposed work plan to the committee at its first meeting, which is also at either the call of the chair or.... There's no reason our committee can't meet before the House comes back. It can meet at the call of the chair at any time, or under section 106(4) we have the ability of any two parties with four members total to call the committee back. However, I would hope that it can meet prior to our losing too much more time.

That's my motion. I'm sorry it's not written out, but in essence it's a motion that we refer this motion to the subcommittee on agenda and procedure, that we ask the subcommittee on agenda and procedure to review it with all other motions that have been received for consideration in the month of January, with a suggested date of January 7, and to report at the first meeting of this committee, which is at the call of the chair or under section 106(4) at the request of any four members, and not necessarily only when the House resumes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Mr. Oliphant, thank you very much.

I see some hands going up.

To make sure that this motion can be put forward procedurally, would you then implicitly frame it as an amendment to Mr. Chong's motion? I mean, it would have to take that shape for us to consider it, because Mr. Chong's motion is still formally on the floor.

Are you amending it, Mr. Oliphant, to then change it to be received by the subcommittee as—

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, just for the information of the interpreters, I am receiving a French translation while I have the English button tab pushed on. I would have understood the French, but I couldn't understand the French and English at the same time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Let's give that a second to see if we can fix the interpretation. It's a technical question.

Is it working now as it should? It is. Okay.

Mr. Oliphant, let me just repeat this. In terms of what you just said with respect to the motion brought forward by Mr. Chong, I'm suggesting that it may be framed as an amendment to then supersede Mr. Chong's motion, which is still on the floor. I read it as a parallel motion, but technically it would have to be an amendment to Mr. Chong's.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

I think there are two different ways to do it. Your proposal is one way. I am happy to make that amendment to Mr. Chong's motion to refer it to the subcommittee. It's quite lengthy, because the goal of it is to put it into the context of a body of work that should be considered fairly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you, Mr. Oliphant.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, can we have a ruling on whether or not the amendment is in order? It seems categorically different from the motion on the floor in front of us.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Well, I think it preserves the substance of your motion. It just says that instead of the committee considering it now, he would propose to give it to the subcommittee on agenda and procedure. It would still be an amendment to your motion.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Yes, but if the amendment is adopted, then we have a motion that's been amended....

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Then we vote on the motion as amended.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Yes, but they seem incongruous to me.

[An hon. member]

I have a point of order.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

The motion would seem incongruous to me if it were to be amended by the amendment proposed by Mr. Oliphant.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

On this same point, we'll hear from Ms. McPherson.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to propose a subamendment to Mr. Oliphant's amendment, which I'm not sure I can do, considering the point of order that's been brought forward by Mr. Chong.

I would propose that the subcommittee does have to deal with this issue before December 17—sorry; before the December 23 break. I would like to see this happen next week. That would be my recommendation. Because of the urgency of the matter and because it has been so long since we have sat as a committee, pushing it back is inappropriate at this time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you, Ms. McPherson.

Mr. Chong, let me ask you this, then, just informally. Would you be supportive of the thrust of Mr. Oliphant's quote-unquote amendment in addition to what Ms. McPherson just said?

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Chair, may I suggest that we proceed in the following fashion? If there's unanimous consent, I'm happy to have my motion set aside for the consideration of the subcommittee on agenda and procedure next week, as well as for the subcommittee on agenda and procedure to also consider other proposals for studies from other members of the committee, as outlined by Mr. Bergeron and Madam McPherson. I'd be willing to proceed on that basis.

If there's unanimous consent that the subcommittee meet next week to deal with this motion that I've moved in front of the committee right now, as well as the proposals from Madam McPherson, Monsieur Bergeron and any other member of the committee, I would be willing to proceed in that fashion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chong.

Before making some procedural points that I was just given by the clerk, let me just canvass the committee generally to see if there would be unanimous consent.

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

I don't see any objections.

Now, procedurally I'm advised that the proper way to do this is to do two things: First, Mr. Chong's motion would be referred to the subcommittee without any conditions attached, and second, a second motion would be moved for the subcommittee to meet next week.

If that's amenable to the committee, then for the record, Mr. Chong, I will give you the floor to make those two motions.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

I so move, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Is there any discussion or any disagreement?

(Motions agreed to)

Colleagues, I think we have landed it, in the sense that we are now moving Mr. Chong's motions to the subcommittee along with other motions from members of the committee that will be brought forward. We supported a motion that the subcommittee meet next week with guidance from the clerk in terms of the best timing to make that happen.

Go ahead, Monsieur Bergeron.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Just like Mr. Chong, I will invite our clerk to distribute the text of the three motions I would like to submit to the members of the committee.

The first motion is for a study that I would like us to undertake, which would require a minimum of three meetings, on the existing situation between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan.

The second motion concerns the situation in Haiti, which, as we know, is extremely serious. Developments in recent days suggest that the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse may have been ordered by groups wanting to prevent the president from releasing the names of people who may have been involved in illegal manoeuvres.

The third motion is about the current situation in Ethiopia, particularly in the Tigray region, where we may be witnessing one of the worst humanitarian crises to have emerged in recent years.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Mr. Bergeron.

Ms. McPherson, you have the floor.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

If this is the opportunity to do that, I also had two motions that I think have been distributed.

Is that correct, Clerk?

They will be distributed very quickly. I believe they have been provided to the clerk in both official languages.

The first motion is that the committee undertake a study on global vaccine access at the earliest possible opportunity and that the study focus on Canada's contribution to COVAX as well as the impacts of intellectual property rights on global access to COVID-19 vaccines, and that the findings be collected and reported to the House, and that pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request the government to provide a comprehensive response to the report.

Also, I would like to ask the committee to hold at least two meetings on the situation unfolding in Ukraine and that witnesses include officials from Global Affairs Canada and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.