Health Committee on Feb. 26th, 2020

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Yes, I am proposing five minutes for us to consider the amendments.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Chair, can I ask one question of Mr. Thériault?

Mr. Thériault, are you speaking of deputy ministers? I want to clarify the word “minister”. Was it “deputy ministers” you were referring to, sir?

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

I can't hear, Mr. Chair. I don't have any sound.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Are we good now?

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Go ahead.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Okay, I'll repeat it anyway. Hopefully, this will work for Mr. Thériault.

In terms of the terminology, “ministers”, are you speaking of deputy ministers? I just want to clarify.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

You're asking whether I'm referring to high-ranking officials?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

By “senior officials”, do you mean deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers, or...?

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

By “senior officials”, I mean anyone who was involved in or who participated in the command centre, anyone who was part of the chain of command. If you're saying the deputies and assistant deputies were the ones most involved, it should include deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers. I think that would be fine.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Okay. We have a motion to suspend.

(Motion agreed to)

We will suspend for five minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Everyone, I call this meeting back to order.

Monsieur Thériault has left us, in favour of by Monsieur Beaulieu.

We'll start by reading the motion as amended by Mr. Thériault's subamendment so we're clear on what we're doing:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(1)(a), the committee order all documents, including briefing notes, memos and emails from senior officials prepared for the Minister of Health, Minister of Transport, Minister of Public Safety, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of National Defence regarding the outbreak of the coronavirus, no later than March 15, 2020; that matters of Cabinet confidence and national security be excluded from the request, and that any redactions to protect the privacy of Canadian citizens and permanent residents whose names and personal information may be included in the documents, as well as public servants who have been providing assistance on this matter, be made by the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel of the House of Commons.

Are we clear on the motion as amended by the subamendment? Are we ready to vote on this subamendment?

Sorry, Mr. Jeneroux.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Again, this is obviously a completely watered-down version of the intent. As we know full well through the SNC-Lavalin scandal, the ministers communicate via text message. I'm not sure what they're trying to hide on the other side over there, because to remove that specifically would likely remove a lot of the pertinent information that Canadians are looking for and would look for in terms of a fully transparent and accountable government.

I certainly don't support this subamendment, and it's unfortunate that it's gotten this far today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Are there any other comments?

A recorded vote has been requested.

(Subamendment agreed to: yeas 7; nays 4 [See Minutes of Proceedings])

We're now discussing the amendment, which is fundamentally what I just read. Is there any discussion?

Mr. Jeneroux.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

No, I'm not going to belabour the point. I just ask for a recorded vote again.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Is there any discussion on the amendment?

Mr. Van Bynen.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

I'm sorry, I thought we were voting on the motion. I thought the amendment was adopted and what we're dealing with now is the motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

We voted on the subamendment to the amendment. Now we're on the amendment, and then we'll go back to the motion. It will be the same thing, probably, if this passes.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you, I appreciate the clarification.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Is there any further discussion on the amendment?

Dr. Powlowski.

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

I'm not sure what we're voting on. Are we voting on the original before it was changed?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

We're voting on the amendment as amended by the subamendment. What I just read at the resumption of this meeting is what we're voting on right now.

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

It's the same thing we voted on last time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Yes, it's process.

Is there any discussion on the amendment as amended by the subamendment?

(Amendment as amended agreed to: yeas 7; nays 4 [See Minutes of Proceedings])

We now have a vote on the motion as amended by the subamendment and the amendment, which is exactly what we just voted on. Is there any further discussion?

Mr. Fisher.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

I still think this is really onerous, but I will support it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Jeneroux.