Government Operations Committee on Dec. 16th, 2021

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Paul Cardegna]

Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum.

I must inform the members that the clerk of the committee can only receive motions for the election of the chair.

The clerk cannot receive other types of motions, entertain points of order nor participate in debate. We can now proceed to the election of the chair.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the chair must be a member of the official opposition.

I'm ready to receive motions for the chair.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

I'd like to nominate Robert Kitchen for the role of chair.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Mr. Paul‑Hus that Robert Kitchen be elected as chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions?

Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion by consensus?

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

With hesitation.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Clerk]

Seeing no disagreement I declare Robert Kitchen duly elected chair of the committee. I invite him to take the chair.

[The Chair (Mr. Robert Kitchen (Souris—Moose Mountain, CPC)), Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you, everybody, for your confidence in my being the chair.

For those of you who don't know me....

I see Joanne and Parm here, as well as Gord Johns and Julie Vignola at the table. It's good to see you all.

Majid, Irek and Anthony, although we've never been on committee together before, it's good to see you. We have to mention McCauley as well. We can't leave him out.

I appreciate your confidence. As we move forward, for those of you who don't know, I was the chair of the committee in the last Parliament in the second session. We did some great work. It's thanks to the work that we did with our clerk and our analysts. Thank you to Paul and to Raphaëlle and all of the people who did the tremendous work to get that done. I can't thank you enough.

Let me just coordinate things here.

[The Clerk]

Dr. Kitchen, I've just emailed you some notes that have been prepared for presumptive chairs. You will find that document in your email right now. It indicates that if the committee consents, the next order of business would be the election of vice-chairs presided over by the clerk. You may wish to ask the committee if it wishes to proceed that way.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

If the committee is in agreement, I will ask the clerk to proceed with the election of the vice-chairs.

I see the nodding of heads.

Mr. Clerk.

[The Clerk]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the first vice‑chair must be a member of the government party.

I'm now prepared to receive motions for the first vice‑chair.

Mr. Kusmierczyk.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

I just want to begin by first congratulating Dr. Kitchen on assuming the position of the chair. I really enjoyed working with you, MP Kitchen, in the last OGGO session. I'm very much looking forward to working with you moving forward.

It gives me great honour to put forward for the position of vice-chair the MP for Richmond Hill, my colleague Majid Jowhari.

[The Clerk]

Thank you, Mr. Kusmierczyk.

It's been moved by Irek Kusmierczyk that Majid Jowhari be elected the first vice-chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions?

Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion by consensus?

Seeing consensus, I declare Mr. Jowhari duly elected first vice-chair of the committee.

Congratulations, Mr. Jowhari.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, and thank you to my colleague Mr. Kusmierczyk.

Congratulations, Dr. Kitchen.

It's good to be on this committee.

[The Clerk]

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the second vice‑chair must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition.

I'm now prepared to receive motions for the second vice‑chair.

Mr. Housefather.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Clerk, I'd like to nominate Julie Vignola for the role of second vice‑chair.

[The Clerk]

Thank you, Mr. Housefather.

It has been moved by Mr. Housefather that Julie Vignola be elected as second vice‑chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions?

Mr. Housefather nominated Ms. Vignola as second vice‑chair of the committee.

Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

I declare Ms. Vignola duly elected second vice‑chair of the committee.

Congratulations, Ms. Vignola.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you, my fellow members, for giving me this honour once again.

[The Clerk]

Dr. Kitchen, I turn the meeting back over to you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you for that.

Congratulations to Mr. Jowhari and Ms. Vignola. I look forward to working with you as vice-chairs as we move forward with our agenda.

With that, I call the meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number one of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates. Today’s meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the House order of November 25. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

Regarding the speaking list, the committee clerk and I will do the best we can to maintain a consolidated order of speaking for all members, whether participating virtually or in person.

I take this opportunity to remind all participants to this meeting that screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted. The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website.

Given the ongoing pandemic situation and in light of the recommendations from public health authorities as well as the directive of the Board of Internal Economy on October 19 to remain healthy and safe, the following is recommended for all those attending the meeting in person. Anyone with symptoms should participate by Zoom and not attend the meeting in person. Everyone must maintain two-metre physical distancing, whether seated or standing. Everyone must wear a non-medical mask when circulating in the room. It is recommended in the strongest possible terms that the members wear their masks at all times, including when seated. Non-medical masks, which provide better clarity over cloth masks, are available in the room. Everyone present must maintain proper hand hygiene by using the hand sanitizer at the room entrance. Committee rooms are cleaned before and after each meeting. To maintain this, everyone is encouraged to clean surfaces such as the desk, chair and microphone with the provided disinfectant wipes when vacating or taking a seat.

As the chair, I will be enforcing these measures for the duration of the meeting, and I thank members in attendance for their co-operation.

I would suggest that as the next order of business the committee now proceed to consideration of our routine motions.

In preparation for this, the committee clerk has circulated a list of routine motions that the committee adopted in the last parliamentary session. The committee clerk can also answer any questions about the routine motions that you may have.

Mr. Clerk.

[The Clerk]

Mr. Chair, I believe Mr. Kusmierczyk has raised his hand.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Mr. Kusmierczyk.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Chair, if it's the will of this committee, I can read the routine motions into the record.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Yes, certainly.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

I'd like to put forward the following routine motions. I will read them out from start to finish, and then, again, if it's the will of the chair and the committee, we can maybe discuss each individually after that.

Analyst Services That the committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the Chair, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.

Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five members; the Chair—

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Chair, on a point of order, may I suggest that once one of them is read out, we see if there is any discussion and then vote on that one? Then we'd move to the next one only at that point, instead of reading them all out and coming to them one by one. I'm thinking that once he's read one out, we should stop and vote on that one and then he can move to the next one. That's the way I've always seen it done.