Industry Committee on July 15th, 2022

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

I'm okay with that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Thank you.

Is the matter of inviting the Minister of Public Safety still being debated? I believe Mr. Champoux proposed that.

Are you amenable to revisiting that in the fall, so we can focus on the actual outage?

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

I'm quite amenable to revisiting that in the fall.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Great.

Now we go to Mr. Généreux.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I am supportive of having the Minister of Public Safety appear at some point, but I'm not sure about hearing from him at the first two meetings.

If we have two meetings, we need to coordinate the appearance of two ministers on the same day, depending on how long we meet for.

The motion doesn't specify how long each meeting will be. Are we talking about two-, three- or four-hour meetings? It also doesn't say whether the two meetings will take place the same day or two days in a row.

Are those things we're ready to work out now?

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

No. My understanding, Mr. Généreux, is that it will depend on the availability of House resources.

Since the parties had come to a fairly solid agreement, I discussed it with the clerk. We could meet the 25 and 26 of July, so a Monday and a Tuesday.

We would have to see whether the two meetings could be scheduled on the same day, but they would be consistent with our usual practice. In other words, they would be two hours long.

We now go to Mr. Deltell, followed by Mr. Erskine‑Smith.

Then, if the motion is adopted, discussions on the two meetings could get under way.

Over to you, Mr. Deltell.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon.

It's clear from today that not everyone is available in the middle of the summer.

If, by chance, both ministers were available and we could get everything done the same day, we could schedule a large chunk of time in the morning and a large chunk in the afternoon. We could hear from the Rogers and CRTC representatives in the morning, and the two ministers in the afternoon. That way, we could cover everything, but the witnesses would all have to be available, of course.

I think each time slot should be three hours long, not two. We're flying a little blind right now, since we don't know who will be available in two weeks.

Don't forget that the Pope will be here, so there will be a lot going on those days. Keep that in mind. I mention it for the member who will be welcoming his Holiness the Pope to his riding.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Thank you, Mr. Deltell.

We have to adopt the motion before we invite any witnesses.

Go ahead, Mr. Erskine‑Smith.

[Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

I think that's a wise counsel, Mr. Chair, so let's move to doing that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Go ahead, Mr. Kram.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Mr. Chair, for the sake of clarity, could we get you to read the motion one more time so we're all on the same page?

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Absolutely.

I'll read the whole motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee undertake a study on the recent service outages and disruptions experienced by Rogers Communications Inc. beginning on Friday, July 8, 2022; further, that the committee review 1) the causes of these widespread disruptions 2) the impacts service outages had on Canadian families, consumers, and businesses including, but not limited to, the health care, law enforcement, and financial sectors, 3) best practices to prevent and mitigate similar widespread outages in the future and 4) given reports about Rogers customers not being properly notified, best practices to ensure that impacted Canadians are updated about service outages in a timely and transparent manner going forward, and that the Committee invite as witnesses representatives from Rogers Communications Inc., the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, and the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada, and that the Committee devote at least two meetings to this study before July 30th, 2022 and report its findings to the House.

Is everyone okay with the text of the motion as I just read it?

(Motion as amended agreed to)

Thank you very much.

Before I let you go and adjourn this meeting, it's very important for us to adopt our budget for the study on small and medium-sized enterprises.

I see Mr. Généreux's hand is up.

Go ahead, Mr. Généreux.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

As Mr. Deltell said earlier, if it were possible to hold both meetings the same day—ideally July 25—we could be in Ottawa Monday morning, fresh and ready to go.

It's a bit trickier the rest of the week. Of course, we could find people to stand in, but as members of the committee, we want to be the ones at the meetings to the extent possible. If we could do it all in one day, that would be ideal.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Duly noted, Mr. Généreux.

Everyone around the table loves Ottawa, but it would be nice to be there for the shortest period possible or, at least, no longer than necessary.

The clerk and I will do our best to figure out the best possible arrangement.

Now we need to adopt the budget request for the study on small and medium-sized enterprises. Witnesses need reimbursing.

A total of $17,750 is being requested for the study on small and medium-sized enterprises.

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

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Thank you very much.

Your comments are duly noted, Mr. Généreux and Mr. Deltell. Mr. Kram mentioned that to me as well. We will do our best to have as condensed of a schedule as possible the week of July 25.

Please be aware that the deputy chair, Michael Kram, will be the one chairing the meetings, since I'm not available. Rest assured, you'll be in good hands. I asked him to be as fair to the Liberal members as I am to the Conservative, NDP and Bloc Québécois members.

Seeing nothing further on the agenda, I want to thank everyone.

The meeting is adjourned.