THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE
EVIDENCE
OTTAWA, Wednesday, September 24, 2025
The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade met this day at 4:30 p.m. [ET], pursuant to rule 12-13 of the Rules of the Senate, to organize the activities of the committee.
[English]
Chantal Cardinal, Clerk of the Committee: Honourable senators, 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 Woo: I nominate Senator Boehm as chair of this committee.
Ms. Cardinal: Are there any other nominations?
It is moved by the Honourable Senator Woo 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. Cardinal: I declare the motion carried. I invite the Honourable Senator Boehm to take the chair.
Senator Peter M. Boehm (Chair) in the chair.
[Translation]
The Chair: Thank you, colleagues. I am honoured to continue serving as chair of this committee at such a consequential time for Canada and the world. I look forward to working with all of you.
[English]
I also wish to introduce our clerk, Chantal Cardinal, who has spoken already. Chantal has been a committee clerk since 2018. Before being assigned to the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2023, she was the clerk of the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans as well as the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources. You have moved upward to other things.
We will now proceed to the election of the deputy chair. I am ready to receive a motion to that effect. Are there any nominations?
Senator Boniface: I nominate Senator Harder.
The Chair: Senator Harder has been nominated. Are there any other nominations? If not, is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
Congratulations, Senator Harder. There is something very familiar about all of this.
[Translation]
We now have some routine motions to adopt.
Do I have a mover for motion 3, Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure?
[English]
The Honourable Senator Wilson 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 your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Thank you. I declare the motion carried.
The two other members appointed to the subcommittee are Senator MacDonald of Nova Scotia and Senator Adler of Manitoba.
[Translation]
Do I have a mover for motion 4, to publish the committee’s proceedings?
Senator Gerba: So moved.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Gerba moved:
That the committee publish its proceedings.
[English]
Is the motion carried?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Thank you. I declare the motion carried.
Do I have a mover for motion 5 relating to research staff?
Senator Ravalia: So moved.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Ravalia moved:
That the committee ask the Library of Parliament to assign analysts to the committee;
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be authorized to retain the services of 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.
Is the motion carried?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
I now wish to introduce the committee analysts: Brian Hermon and Zak Black.
Brian Hermon has been an analyst with the Library of Parliament since 2012. Before that, I recall you had a brief career at what is now Global Affairs Canada. He has been assigned to the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade since 2020 and was previously assigned to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development from 2014 to 2019.
Zachariah — Zak — Black has been an analyst with the Library of Parliament since 2023 and has been assigned to the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade since 2024.
Do I have a mover for this motion?
Senator Al Zaibak: So moved.
The Chair: Thank you. Welcome back to our hard-working analysts. We’ll make sure to give you a lot of work during this session.
Do I have a mover for motion 6, which is the authority to commit funds and certify accounts?
Senator Hébert: So moved.
[Translation]
The Chair: The motion is the following:
That, pursuant to section 6(1), 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.
[English]
That, pursuant to section 7(1), 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 the motion carried?
Senator Al Zaibak: I have a question for clarification, if it’s possible. In the second paragraph where it says, “conferred individually on the chair, the deputy chair, and the clerk,” what does that mean? Does that mean each one of them separately from the others has that authority?
The Chair: This is usually the moment where I turn to the clerk for her explanation.
Ms. Cardinal: This is just when we are paying witness reimbursements or claims for travel when they come to our committee. I will approve those claims, for example. If I’m travelling with the committee, then the chair would approve my claim. It’s the natural process for approving claims that are received from witnesses.
Senator Al Zaibak: Each one is authorized separately?
Ms. Cardinal: No, it’s not each one separately. It just depends on what type of claim it is.
Senator Al Zaibak: I see. Okay. Thank you.
The Chair: Thank you. Is the motion carried?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Thank you. Do I have a mover for motion 7?
Senator Busson: So moved.
[Translation]
The Chair: Senator Busson 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.
Is the motion carried?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
[English]
The Chair: Thank you. Do I have a mover for motion 8?
Senator Ataullahjan: So moved.
The Chair: Senator Ataullahjan, thank you. This is the designation of members travelling on committee business.
The Honourable Senator Ataullahjan 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 of 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 the motion carried?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Thank you very much, colleagues.
[Translation]
Motion 9 has to do with witness expenses. Do I have a mover for motion 9?
[English]
Senator Harder: So moved.
The Chair: Senator Harder, thank you.
The Honourable Senator Harder moved:
That, pursuant to the Senate guidelines for witness expenses, the committee may reimburse reasonable expenses related to the appearance 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 the motion carried?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Thank you.
[Translation]
The next motion is on communications.
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.
Is the motion carried?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Thank you, colleagues.
[English]
The communications officer assigned to the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade is Sabryna Lemieux, who is here with us over there in the back. She has been assigned to this committee since 2024.
Good to have you back, Sabryna. Thank you very much.
Colleagues, this brings us to the final item before adjournment, and that is Other Business. And under Other Business, I just want to say that the committee will meet on Wednesdays from 4:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Today was a special start time of 4:30 p.m. We thought the session would go until four o’clock, and, of course, there was the group photo for Orange Shirt Day. And then the committee will meet on Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
This brings us to the end of our meeting. I want to thank you for your participation today. In particular, I want to extend a warm welcome to the senators who have not been members of this committee before: Senator Adler of Manitoba, Senator Ataullahjan of Ontario, Senator Hébert of Quebec and Senator Wilson of British Columbia, it is great to have you with us. I think you will find our work, hopefully, interesting. There certainly will be lots to do.
We will reconvene tomorrow in camera at 10:30 a.m. in this room to discuss our future business, so bring all your best ideas and be ready for a good discussion.
I would ask the steering committee members to please stay behind for just a few minutes after this meeting. Thank you.
(The committee adjourned.)