Justice Committee on Nov. 27th, 2025

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

There could have been consensus on this. The reason we put forward a motion that invoked the notwithstanding clause, or called on the government to do it, was that we need to protect against judicial activism, as was clearly the case in the initial trial court decisions in Quebec, and then the ultimate decision that came from the Supreme Court.

This is a crucial issue. We are not going to stand for a government that wants to hijack what Canadians care about, hijack the country's agenda to put forward its own attack on civil liberties. That is what this is about. That is why we are introducing this motion and why I have introduced this motion to reset the committee's work.

I seek support from members on this motion, but I realize I've gone a couple of moments over where I was going to with my remarks, so at this time I would move to suspend this meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Miller]

Is everyone in favour of suspending?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Miller]

We're suspending, with apologies to witnesses and guests here today.

[The meeting was suspended at 5:25 p.m., Thursday, November 27]

[The meeting resumed at 3:34 p.m., Tuesday, December 2]

[The Clerk of the Committee, Christine Holke]

Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(3)(a), as the clerk of the committee I will preside over the election of the chair.

I must inform members that the clerk of the committee can only receive motions for the election of the chair. The clerk cannot receive other types of motions, cannot entertain points of order and cannot participate in debate.

We can now proceed to the election of the chair. Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the chair must be a member of the government party.

I'm ready to receive the motions for the chair.

Ms. Lattanzio, you have the floor.

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Madam Clerk, I would like to nominate my colleague, James Maloney, for the position of chair of the committee.

[The Clerk]

Are there any further motions?

I'll now put the motion to the committee. It has been moved by Ms. Lattanzio that Mr. Maloney be elected chair of the committee.

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

(Motion agreed to on division)

[The Clerk]

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Maloney duly elected chair of the committee.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Clerk]

I invite Mr. Maloney to take the chair.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

You will have to bear with me. It's been a few years since I've chaired a committee.

I see that we have some hands up over here. Mr. Housefather and Ms. Lattanzio, I will put you on the list.

First of all, I do thank you. I've had the good fortune of chairing a committee in the past. It's a privilege I take most seriously. I think, or I hope, that the people I have served with on the committee in this capacity before will tell you that I've gone out of my way to be fair and reasonable. That is my approach to everything. I will continue to do that. You have my commitment to work with all of you on the same terms, regardless of party. I look forward to continuing the good work of this committee on the cordial basis that we have had for some time.

Before I get to the speakers list, I would like to call this meeting to order. Welcome to meeting number 13 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application. I would ask all in-person participants to consult the guidelines written on the cards on the table. These measures are in place to help prevent audio feedback incidents and to protect the health and safety of all participants, including and especially the interpreters. You will also notice a QR code on the card, which links to a short awareness video.

I'm going to have to take a lot of direction from the clerk. It's been a while, as I said.

The meeting agenda provided only for the election of the chair.

Mr. Housefather, I saw that you had your hand up, so I will go to you.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

I have a point of order.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

[Technical difficulty—Editor] to clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-9, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Thank you, Mr. Housefather.

That's a dilatory motion, as I recall the rules.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

I have a point of order, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

I heard you, Mr. Lawton. You will be heard.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

A point of order requires immediate consideration.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

I'm familiar with that rule too.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Do I have the floor, then?

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

No, you don't. You'll have the floor when I give you the floor.

We'll get along just fine if we both respect each other's opportunity to speak.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

If you respect the rules, sir, we'll get along a lot better. I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

If you're going to start challenging my integrity right out of the gate, Mr. Lawton, we are not going to get along very well. As I said at the outset, I intend to be fair. I will always be fair. Comments like that are not going to help.

Mr. Housefather has tabled a motion. It is a dilatory motion, which, as I understand the rules, is required to be voted on with no debate.

I'm going to call that motion for a vote—

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Chair, you are actually ignoring the rules of this committee right now.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

I am not ignoring the rules, Mr. Lawton.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Chair, if you will acknowledge the 44th Parliament Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development meeting of May 16, 2022—