Government Operations Committee on May 8th, 2024

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

The amendment by Mr. Bachrach was deleting a line or two. That will go out.

While we're doing that, Ms. Khalid, go ahead.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

My point was also just to seek some clarification.

With the way Mr. Bachrach read his motion, I was under the impression that (b) was to be deleted. I'm not sure if that is the case or we're just leaving it with the language of (a) and just ending it there.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

In essence, we're just waiting for the translation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

It will come out to you shortly from the clerk.

Go ahead, Mr. Bachrach.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

The amendment is to remove the words after “in any safe supply program”.

Do you see that in (a)? It's between that and “provided that these documents”, and to remove paragraph (b) altogether.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

It's to remove paragraph (b). That's what I was asking.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

The entire motion would read, “(a) order the production of all contracts, agreements or memoranda of understanding to which the Government of Canada is a party, signed since January 1, 2016, concerning the purchase, acquisition or transfer of Dilaudid or any generic form of hydromorphone for use in any safer supply program, provided that these documents shall be deposited with the clerk of the committee, in an unredacted form and in both official languages, within three weeks of the adoption of this order.”

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

That's the entirety of it.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Right.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Thank you. That clarifies it for me. Thank you, Chair.

Actually, there is one more thing for clarification.

I'm wondering about the date—January 1, 2016. Is there a specific reasoning for that?

I'm sorry, but I'm brand new at this committee. I'm just wondering if there's any reasoning behind that date. Is it one of those arbitrary ones, like 10 years or eight years? Is there significance to that?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

You can get back to it when it's—

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

I didn't get the rationale for the date.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Ms. Vignola is next, and then we'll pop over to you, Mrs. Goodridge. You can address that.

Ms. Vignola, go ahead.

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

Removing paragraph (b) completely is a good option, given that the provinces must remain independent.

I would also like to make a small clarification. Of course, the review of contracts falls within the mandate of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates. Contracts are related to procurement, for example. That said, the other committees do indeed review contracts. For example, the Medicago contracts were brought to the attention of the Standing Committee on Health. When other committees don't feel up to studying a contract, they usually count on us to study it and identify the key points. For example, the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology and the Standing Committee on Health also study contracts.

To sum up, the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates isn't solely responsible for reviewing contracts. I wanted to make that clear. There are about 400,000 contracts a year, and we're also human beings.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

That is a point well made.

Mrs. Goodridge, please go ahead.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

There was a question from Ms. Khalid regarding the selection of that date, and the date is roughly aligned with when the conversations happened surrounding Canada's first so-called safer supply program in London, Ontario, which began in 2016. This would just allow us to encompass those historical data.

It's worth noting that a while ago, Dr. Ellis put forward an Order Paper question, and in it we got a whole bunch of data back on SUAP, which is the substance-use funding agreement. In some parts of it, it literally lists the project title as “Safer Supply”, and then in the activity, it says, “Service Delivery”. It leads us to believe that there would in fact be federal government contracts for this. It's just one of those situations in which we've tried, through OPQs, to get to the space, and considering this is a space where taxpayer dollars are going towards these substances, I do think it is incumbent on us to just make sure that we're looking through this.

While I appreciate the conversation that contracts can be looked at in different committees, which is very true, contracts regarding government money do fall under the purview of OGGO. So as to not continue having these conversations, I would prefer to see paragraph (b) stay in, with respectfully asking provinces and territories to provide us with these contracts.

However, I do understand the concerns that have been raised regarding provincial jurisdiction; I just hope that we can support this in order to get these documents and see where the contracts lie.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Perfect.

The amendment, as presented by Mr. Bachrach, has gone out to everyone's P9s. As mentioned, it would delete paragraph (b) entirely and delete the text starting with where it says, “together with any related documents”, etc., and ending with “hydromorphone to be used”.

If we do not have...

We'll go to Mr. Bachrach, and then Mr. Genuis and Mr. Ellis.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

I found Ms. Khalid's question about the date an interesting one. It's not something that I had considered, but 2016.... I'm curious about the rationale, because I think if we want to really get to the bottom of this, we should probably go back to the date of the earliest federal agreement or contract that relates in some way to safer supply. I don't have that date offhand, but I think that would be the most reasonable and logical approach for the motion to take.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

That's what I said.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Maybe I missed it. I'm sorry, Ms. Goodridge. Did you explain that earlier?

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

That's what I said.

Chair, may I explain?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

I have Mr. Genuis and Mr. Ellis up next, but if they want to skip their spots, you can address it, and then we can go back to them.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Effectively, Canada's first so-called safer supply program came to be in London, Ontario, in 2016, so this would encompass those potential contracts, which is precisely why that date was picked.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Thank you, and I'm sorry if I missed that.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

No worries.