THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE
EVIDENCE
OTTAWA, Tuesday, December 14, 2021
The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade met with videoconference this day at 9:32 a.m. [ET], pursuant to rule 12-13 of the Rules of the Senate, to organize the activities of the committee.
[English]
Gaëtane Lemay, Clerk of the Committee: As clerk of your committee, it is my duty to preside over the election of the chair. I am ready to receive a motion to that effect.
Senator M. Deacon: Thank you to the clerk of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. I am delighted to nominate the Honourable Senator Peter Boehm, Ontario.
Ms. Lemay: It is moved by the Honourable Senator Deacon:
That the Honourable Senator Boehm do take the chair of this committee.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Ms. Lemay: Motion carried. Therefore, I invite the Honourable Senator Boehm to take the chair.
Senator Peter Boehm (Chair) in the chair.
[Translation]
The Chair: Thank you, Madam Clerk. Thank you for your trust, esteemed colleagues.
[English]
It is a pleasure to be your chair. Without further ado, we will go right into the next part of the agenda.
[Translation]
We will now proceed to the election of a deputy chair. I am ready to receive a motion to that effect. Are there any nominations?
Senator Gerba: I wish to nominate Senator Peter Harder.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Gerba moved:
That the Honourable Senator Harder be deputy chair of this committee.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
[English]
Colleagues, I would like to read out the names of the members of the committee: Senator Boniface, Ontario; Senator Coyle, Nova Scotia; Senator Deacon, Ontario; Senator Gerba, Quebec; Senator Greene, Nova Scotia; Senator Harder, Ontario; Senator MacDonald, Nova Scotia; Senator Ravalia, Newfoundland and Labrador; Senator Richards, New Brunswick; Senator Woo, British Columbia; and Senator Oh, Ontario.
Colleagues, we now have some routine motions to adopt. These are standard motions consistent with past practices.
First, item 3 on our agenda refers to the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure, known as the steering committee in the colloquial. It was agreed that all four recognized parties and groups would have a representative on the steering committee. What is involved in setting up the steering committee are the usual consultations, as we call them, meetings between the various groups and, aside from the chair and deputy chair, there are two members who have been identified for their group.
Is there a senator who would like to put forward the motion? As you think about that, the members who had been identified through the usual consultations are Senator MacDonald for the Conservatives and for the Canadian Senators Group, it would be Senator Greene. I invite motions.
Senator Coyle: So moved.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Coyle moved:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be composed of the chair, the deputy chair and two other members of the committee, to be designated after the usual consultations; and
That the subcommittee be empowered to make decisions on behalf of the committee with respect to its agenda, to invite witnesses, and to schedule hearings.
Is it agreed, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
Next is the motion to publish the committee’s proceedings. Do I have a proposer for motion 4?
The Honourable Senator MacDonald moved:
That the committee publish its proceedings.
Is it agreed, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
And motion 5 deals with the financial report. As per rule 12-26(2), each committee must table a report on the expenses incurred during the previous session, 43-2. A copy of the draft report, prepared by the clerk, was distributed by email.
Do I have a mover for that motion?
Senator Oh: I so move.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Oh moved:
That the committee adopt the draft report, prepared in accordance with rule 12-26(2).
Is it agreed, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
[Translation]
Is there a mover for motion 6?
Senator Oh: I move the motion.
The Chair: Senator Oh moved:
That the chair be authorized to seek authority from the Senate to engage the services of such counsel and technical, clerical, and other personnel as may be necessary for the purpose of the committee’s examination and consideration of such bills, subject-matters of bills, and estimates as are referred to it;
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be authorized to retain the services of such experts as may be required by the work of the committee; and
That the chair, on behalf of the committee, direct the research staff in the preparation of studies, analyses, summaries, and draft reports.
Senators, is it agreed that the motion be adopted?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
[English]
We have two analysts who have been assigned to this committee. We have Brian Hermon, who has worked with the committee before; and Nadia Faucher, who has also worked with the committee before but more in the past. I would invite them to introduce themselves if they could, please.
Brian Hermon, Analyst, Library of Parliament: Good morning, senators. My name is Brian Hermon. As the chair mentioned, I previously worked with this committee in the last Parliament and I’m very pleased to be working with you again in this session. Thank you.
[Translation]
Nadia Faucher, Analyst, Library of Parliament: Good morning, senators. My name is Nadia Faucher. It is my pleasure to support the work of the committee during this Parliament.
[English]
And in the previous Parliament I was working with the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
[Translation]
The Chair: Thank you both and we look forward to working with you.
[English]
We now move to item 7 on the agenda. This is the authority to commit funds and certify accounts. Do I have a proposer for motion 7?
Senator Coyle: I so move.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Coyle moved:
That, pursuant to section 7, chapter 3:05 of the Senate Administrative Rules, authority to commit funds be conferred individually on the chair, the deputy chair, and the clerk of the committee;
That, pursuant to section 8, chapter 3:05 of the Senate Administrative Rules, authority for certifying accounts payable by the committee be conferred individually on the chair, the deputy chair, and the clerk of the committee; and
That, notwithstanding the foregoing, in cases related to consultants and personnel services, the authority to commit funds and certify accounts be conferred jointly on the chair and deputy chair.
Is it agreed, senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
[Translation]
Motion 8 is about travel. Is there a mover for motion 8?
[English]
Senator Boniface: I so move.
[Translation]
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Boniface moved:
That the committee empower the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure to designate, as required, one or more members of the committee and/or such staff as may be necessary to travel on assignment on behalf of the committee.
Senators, is it agreed that the motion be adopted?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
[English]
We now have motion 9, which deals with the designation of members travelling on committee business. Do I have a proposer for motion 9?
Senator M. Deacon: I so move.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Deacon moved:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be authorized to:
1) determine whether any member of the committee is on “official business” for the purposes of paragraph 8(3)(a) of the Senators Attendance Policy, published in the Journals of the Senate on Wednesday, June 3, 1998; and
2) consider any member on the committee to be on “official business” if that member is: (a) attending an event or meeting related to the work of the committee; or (b) making a presentation related to the work of the committee; and
That the subcommittee report at the earliest opportunity any decisions taken with respect to the designation of members of the committee travelling on committee business.
Is it agreed, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried. Travelling and living expenses of witnesses is motion 10. Do I have a proposer for that item?
Senator Richards: I move.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Richards moved:
That pursuant to the Senate guidelines for witness expenses, the committee may reimburse reasonable travelling and living expenses of one witness per organization upon application, but that the chair be authorized to approve expenses of a second witness from the same organization should there be exceptional circumstances.
Is it agreed, senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
[Translation]
On communications, is there a mover for motion 11?
Senator Gerba: I so move.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Gerba moved:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be empowered to direct communications officer(s) assigned to the committee in the development of communications plans and products where appropriate and to request the services of the Senate Communications Directorate for the purposes of the promotion of their work; and
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be empowered to allow coverage by electronic media of the committee’s public proceedings with the least possible disruption of its proceedings, at its discretion.
Senators, is it agreed that the motion be adopted?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
[English]
I would like to bring to your attention that Stav Nitka is the communications officer assigned to this committee. He has worked with us before, and I believe he is on the call. If you would like to turn on your camera for a moment, Mr. Nitka, if you are there, you could say hello.
Stav Nitka, Communications Officer, Senate of Canada: Good morning, senators. My name is Stav Nitka. I was the communications officer for this committee in the past, notably during the Forty-second Parliament. The committee was studying the topic of cultural diplomacy. You may recall the report launched for that study, where I organized the press conference at the National Gallery of Canada in June 2019. I look forward to working with you all.
The Chair: Thank you very much, Mr. Nitka. We look forward to working with you as well.
Colleagues, we are coming to item 12 now, which is other business. There are a few items here that I wanted to mention. As you know, we are in a hybrid format and that means we will have meetings in this way, and we are assigned a weekly two-hour time slot on Thursdays from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m. I’m hoping that that will not change. That’s the traditional time slot. By my calculation, that gives us — if there are no intervening circumstances — about 17 meetings before we rise for the summer. I think that will determine how we conduct our work.
Before opening it up, I wanted to do two things. I want to acknowledge the excellent committee staff that we have, led by our clerk, Gaëtane Lemay; Evelyne Côté, the procedural clerk, who is not in the room but is working from her own location; Brian Hermon and Nadia Faucher, who we’ve met; Maritza Jean-Pierre, who is the committee assistant as well; our technical staff here and our interpreters who work quite hard, considering that we wear masks and lip-reading is not part of the game anymore.
Also I wanted to mention in the last Parliament it was a little bit difficult for us. There was an agreement to concentrate on government business, which we did. We had an item related to the Chemical Weapons Convention, basically an amendment to the annex on Novichok. We had some work on the Budget Implementation Act as well. Then we started looking at the international response to the pandemic, and then it was all over. We don’t know at this point what we’re going to get in terms of government business, but we did have some very interesting ideas for study that is this committee could undertake. As all of you know, the committee has a long history of doing some very interesting, comprehensive, deeper studies.
I trust that what will happen in the next several weeks is that the steering committee will meet, and we will have a discussion on the best way forward. We had a wealth of suggestions, some that might be more practical than others. And then we would have our first meeting in the new year, of the full committee, to look at that and at the work ahead of us.
If any senator would like to take the floor, make a comment, now is the time. As you are all cogitating, you can continue that over the holiday period, and we will be in touch in the new year.
(The committee adjourned.)