Thank you, gentlemen. I will do a more extensive introduction later. In the interest of time, I will to try to get through this before before the bells begin.
I have permission to read the rest into the record. Then we can vote on them.
This motion is with regard to meeting without a quorum:
That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence published when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including two members of the opposition parties and two members of the government party.
This motion concerns travel:
That, when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct: (a) the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of whether quorum is present, (b) no substantive motion may be moved during such meetings.
The next motion is with regard to time for opening remarks and questions of witnesses. It reads:
That witnesses be given five (5) minutes for their opening statements; that whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statements 72 hours in advance; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six (6) minutes for the first questioner of each party, as follows: in the first round, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, the Bloc Québécois; that for the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows: Conservative Party, five (5) minutes; Liberal Party, five (5) minutes; Bloc Québécois, two and a half (2.5) minutes; Conservative Party, five (5) minutes; Liberal Party, five (5) minutes.
This motion concerns document distribution:
That only the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee and only when the documents are in both official languages; and that all documents submitted to the committee in both official languages that do not come from a federal department, members’ offices, or that have not been translated by the Translation Bureau, be sent for linguistic review by the Translation Bureau before being distributed to members, and that the witnesses be advised accordingly.
The next motion is with regard to working meals:
That the clerk of the committee, at the discretion of the Chair, be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.
The next one deals with travel accommodations and living expenses of witnesses:
That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses, not exceeding two representatives per organization; and that in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.
The next motion deals with access to in camera meetings:
That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff member at in camera meetings and that one additional person from each House officer's office be allowed to be present.
That, during in camera meetings, committee members may be informed by the committee Chair of the MPs who have been designated as substitutes for permanent members, in order to know which MPs are authorized to speak and vote during these committee meetings; that only those who have been recognized and identified as such be authorized to speak, in keeping with the usual agreed rules of order and decorum.
I’ll now read the motion on the transcripts of in camera meetings.
That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be securely retained by the committee clerk for consultation by members of the committee or by their staff; and that the analysts assigned to the committee have access to the in camera transcripts.
We go to notices of motions:
That a 48-hour notice, interpreted as two nights, be required for any substantive motion to be moved in committee, unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration, provided that:
(a) the notice be filed with the clerk of the committee no later than 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, and no later than 2.30 p.m. on Friday;
(b) the motion be distributed to members and the offices of the whips of each recognized party in both official languages by the clerk on the same day the said notice was transmitted if it was received no later than the deadline hour;
(c) notices received after the deadline hour or on non-business days be deemed to have been received during the next business day.
We go to orders of reference from the House respecting bills:
That in relation to orders of reference from the House respecting bills,
(a) The clerk of the committee shall, upon the committee receiving such an order of reference, write to each member who is not a member of a caucus represented on the committee to invite those members to file with the clerk of the committee, in both official languages, any amendments to the bill that is the subject of the said Order that they would suggest that the committee consider;
(b) Suggested amendments filed pursuant to paragraph (a) at least 48 hours prior to the start of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill to which the amendments relate shall be deemed to be proposed during the said consideration, provided that the committee may, by motion, vary this deadline in respect of a given bill; and
(c) During the clause-by-clause consideration of a bill, the Chair shall allow a member who filed suggested amendments pursuant to paragraph (a) an opportunity to make brief representations in support of them.
I’ll now read the motion on the technical tests for witnesses.
That the clerk inform each witness who is to appear before the committee that the House Administration support team must conduct technical tests to check the connectivity and the equipment used to ensure the best possible sound quality; and that the Chair advise the committee, at the start of each meeting, of any witness who did not perform the required technical tests.
We go to whips' access to digital binders:
That the clerk of the committee be authorized to grant access to the committee's digital binder to the offices of the whips of each recognized party.
We go to maintenance of order and decorum:
That, during meetings, the Chair, if necessary, uses his prerogative to suspend the meeting to maintain the order and decorum necessary to ensure the application of the House of Commons' policies on workplace health and safety.
I believe that covers everything, Madam Clerk.
Oh, apparently there's more. Hold on a second.
Is there any debate on this?
The clerk has just informed me that there were some other routine motions passed in the previous Parliament that are specific to public accounts. For example, one of the motions I just read deals with legislation, which this committee has not concerned itself with, or at least not in my memory.
That said, there are other motions that are relevant to this committee, so before I deal with this, why don't we deal with the general ones? Then I can come back to these. Unfortunately, these were not distributed to you previously. I'm happy to read them into the record. We could pick up the debate at another time, but for now, let's just deal with the ones that I have read into the record.
Is there any concern or debate? Should I call the vote to pass the routine motions as you received them by email? Because I know those are correct and accurate, I won't say “read in”. Is there any dissent?
Would you like to say something, Mr. Lemire?