Evidence of meeting #15 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was redacted.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
My understanding of the original motion from Ms. Khalid is that it would be in person.
Okay. Just to clarify, it's clear—
Conservative
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
To do so, I'm going to provide a bit of context, having done this in public accounts with the vaccine documents.
We will receive the redacted contracts that we have right now in our possession. Those will be distributed. We'll have those for the meeting, and then we'll schedule the meeting if it is to go ahead that way.
Just so everyone is clear on that, the redacted ones have been received by the clerk. The clerk is hanging on to them, but those will be made available to us pretty much immediately.
I have Ms. Gaudreau, then Mr. Gill and then Ms. Khalid.
Bloc
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
It's important to go around the table, because it allows us to reflect as well.
Clearly, we need to proceed in stages. The first step is learning more about the reasons for the redaction. As I said earlier, is it for reasons related to competition, national defence or I do not know what? Knowing that the representatives will be here in person and that we will have the redacted documents is a first step.
I know other people have their name on the list to speak on this matter, but if everyone withdrew their name, I would be prepared to vote in favour of this motion.
November 18th, 2025 / 11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Harb Gill Conservative Windsor West, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Mr. Bédard, I come from a policing background. When somebody does not comply with the orders, we automatically escalate it to a higher court.
What should we be doing when a minister ignores a production order? Rather than going through prolonged negotiations with them, is there a mechanism that we can perhaps adopt?
Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel
In terms of sanctions or implementation of the power to send for records and papers, when faced with a refusal, the committee can put in place safeguard measures, but if still unsatisfied with the information provided, what the committee can do is report the matter to the House, which is the higher court in the circumstances. Then, based on the report of the committee, a question of privilege can be raised.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
I'm sorry. There's one thing I have to clarify, and I thank the clerk for bringing this up. When we say “in person”, because it's in camera, etc., I'm going to make the assumption that it is physically in person, because our Standing Orders allow virtual.... I'm going to suggest that we state that it's in person for all of us and for witnesses as well.
Are we good on that, everyone? Yes?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
Well, yes and no, because we've actually had the previous one where we've had the committee overrule the Standing Orders, but I'm going to strongly suggest that if it's so important and private, we strongly encourage everyone to show up in person.
I have Ms. Khalid next on the list.
Liberal
Iqra Khalid Liberal Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON
Chair, I agree with you that we can strongly suggest they appear in person, but, again, we know that the Standing Orders are as they are, and I will leave everything else as is.
I agree with Ms. Gaudreau. I'm ready to vote.
Conservative
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
Before we do, I have November 25 open, so I'm going to suggest we put that in on November 25, so we can move forward on this.
There's consensus around the table.
(Motion as amended agreed to)
Just to be clear, we will have members from Stellantis and various departments, if necessary, here in person on November 25. Well, we'll try for November 25. We will release the unredacted.... We have them only in print right now, so I'll check with the clerk to either scan and send them to your P9s or arrange to have them hand-delivered to you. They'll be redacted, so you can read them and bring them to the meeting.
I see nods all around, so I assume there's unanimous consent for that.
That being out of the way, we'll book that for the 25th, and we'll go back to questions for Mr. Bédard, if necessary, on access to documents. If not, we will excuse Mr. Bédard.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
Yes, we will adjourn. However, before we do, I just want to give a warm OGGO welcome to Mr. Bédard's equivalent from Austria, who is visiting us today and joining us in committee.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
If our members have a chance to pop over to say hello, she's a wonderful lady with a breadth of experience similar to our situation here in Canada.
With that, thanks, Mr. Bédard, for being with us.
Colleagues, thanks.
We are adjourned.
