Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 8th, 2023

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I'm sorry, Madam Chair. I think we have to vote on this motion first, and then I will have a motion to move as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Ms. Kwan.

Now we have the motion moved by Mr. Dhaliwal, as amended, on the floor.

Seeing no debate on that, I will ask the clerk to please read out the motion as amended.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Keelan Buck]

It reads as follows: That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee invite Randall Emery to appear on the potential breach of privilege resulting from the premature distribution of notices of amendments to Bill S-245, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (granting citizenship to certain Canadians).

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Add “at the next meeting”.

[The Clerk]

Yes, “at the next meeting”. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We adopted an amendment before this.

Can you start again and read the full motion as amended? We had two amendments.

[The Clerk]

My apologies. I missed the previous amendment.

I reads:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee invite Randall Emery to appear on the potential breach of privilege resulting from the premature distribution of notices of amendments to Bill S-245, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (granting citizenship to certain Canadians), at the next meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

That's the motion as amended.

Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe is next.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Could you read it in French, please?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Yes.

Please read it.

[The Clerk]

That pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee invite Randal Emery to appear on the potential breach of privilege resulting from the premature distribution of notices of amendments to Bill S‑245, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (granting citizenship to certain Canadians), at the next meeting.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

Seeing no debate, we will take the vote on the motion as amended.

(Motion as amended agreed to: yeas 11; nays 0)

The motion moved by Mr. Dhaliwal as amended has been adopted.

Go ahead, Ms. Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I think it would be appropriate for all committee members to receive a copy of the email the chair received from MP Kmiec at the last meeting pertaining to this issue.

As such, I move a motion for that email to be distributed to all committee members.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Ms. Kwan.

We will hear from Mr. Dhaliwal and then Ms. Rempel Garner.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I was just thinking, to get things moving, that I would love to see members support this and carry on with the bill.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

Go ahead, Ms. Rempel Garner.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Just for my colleagues, in the meantime, including my colleague Ms. Kwan, I think Mr. Kmiec may have read the email close to its entirety. I understand wanting to see a copy of it and I'm supportive of that, but I think he read it into the record at the last meeting. It would be in our blues for sure, so there is a public record of it. I'll just make that point.

The other point I would make, on behalf of our colleague from Quebec, is that this would be distributed in both official languages as well. The assumption is that this would happen.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Ms. Kwan has moved a motion that it should be circulated. That is for the committee to decide. We will have a debate and then vote on that.

Go ahead, Mr. Maguire.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My colleague alluded to the fact that it may be mainly available already in the blues. I believe my colleague Mr. Kmiec read a good deal of it, and his request would have been in Hansard.

Do you have a ruling with regard to whether or not it can be distributed if it wasn't formally presented by him in the House? Do you need some time to decide whether or not it can be distributed in the manner we're talking about?

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Mr. Maguire.

For the question you raised, to clarify, it cannot be distributed until or unless it is tabled.

Ms. Kwan has moved a motion that it should be distributed. If, after the vote, that motion is adopted, I will get it circulated to the members after getting it translated into French. The email I was given by Mr. Kmiec is only in English. It was not in both languages.

We will hear from Ms. Kwan, then Ms. Rempel Garner and then Mr. Maguire.

Go ahead, Ms. Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Just very quickly, Madam Chair, I know that Mr. Kmiec read part of that email onto the record, which we do have. However, we don't have it in its entirety. I think this whole exercise is premised on that. It would be useful and helpful for all committee members to receive it, and in a timely fashion, so that it will become part of the documentation for committee members to review before the witness appears on Wednesday.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Ms. Kwan.

Ms. Rempel Garner, go ahead, and then it's Mr. Maguire.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I have just a very brief question with regard to my colleague Mr. Maguire's question.

Chair, you don't require us to formally table that, do you? You already have a copy, so you're good. Procedurally, are we cooking with gas here?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

To answer your question, yes, I have the email provided by Mr. Kmiec in the English language. If the motion is adopted, I will have to get it translated into French, after which the clerk can distribute it. That's if the motion is adopted.

Next is Mr. Maguire.