THE SPECIAL SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE BUILDING CANADA STRONG ACT
EVIDENCE
OTTAWA, Thursday, October 8, 2026
The Special Senate Committee on the Building Canada Strong Act met this day at 2:15 p.m. [ET], pursuant to rule 12-13 of the Rules of the Senate, to organize the activities of the committee.
[English]
Vincent Labrosse, 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 Manning.
Mr. Labrosse: Are there any other nominations?
It is moved by the Honourable Senator Woo:
That the Honourable Senator Manning do take the chair of this committee.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Mr. Labrosse: I declare the motion carried. I invite the Honourable Senator Manning to take the chair.
Senator Fabian Manning (Chair) in the chair.
The Chair: Senators, that was quite the surprise. Thank you and welcome. Our first order of business today will be to elect some deputy chairs. The first deputy chair will be from the Independent Senators Group. Do we have any nominations?
Senator Boehm: I nominate the Honourable Hassan Yussuff.
The Chair: Are there any other nominations? Seeing none, nominations are closed.
Senator Yussuff, you have been elected deputy chair of the committee. Is it your pleasure to take that position? I want to make sure. Honourable senators, is the motion adopted?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Congratulations. Our second deputy chair will be from the Progressive Senate Group. Are there any nominations?
Senator Cuzner: I would like to nominate Senator Duncan Wilson.
The Chair: Thank you, Senator Cuzner. Are there any other nominations? This is the final call.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried. Congratulations, Senator Wilson.
Now we have the election of our third deputy chair, from the Canadian Senators Group. Do we have any nominations?
Senator Patterson: I would like to nominate Senator Gignac.
The Chair: Senator Gignac has been nominated. Do we have any other nominations? This is the final call.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Congratulations, Senator Gignac. Welcome aboard.
Senator Gignac: Thank you.
The Chair: Honourable senators, I move:
That, in the unavoidable absence of the chair, the deputy chair representing the recognized party or recognized parliamentary group with the largest representation in the Senate shall preside over meetings of the Special Committee, followed, in descending order of representation, by the other deputy chairs.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
As members know, pursuant to the motion adopted by the Senate on October 6, 2026, the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure is composed of the chair, the three deputy chairs and a member of the Government Representative’s Office, as a non‑voting member, even if that senator is not a member of the committee.
I understand that Senator Pat Duncan was identified as a non‑voting member on steering.
Do I have a mover for motion 5 regarding the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure?
Senator Yussuff: So moved.
The Chair: It was moved by Senator Yussuff:
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 the motion carried?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
Do I have a mover for motion 6, which is to publish the committee’s proceedings?
Senator Yussuff: So moved.
The Chair: Senator Yussuff moved:
That the committee publish its proceedings.
Is the motion carried?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Thank you.
Do I have a mover for motion 7, relating to research staff?
Senator Yussuff: So moved.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Yussuff 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 would like to introduce the committee analyst, Nadia Faucher. Nadia, I think you may be familiar with most senators here.
Nadia Faucher, Analyst, Library of Parliament: I’m familiar with several, yes.
The Chair: Yes, okay.
Regarding the authority to commit funds and certify accounts, do I have a mover for motion 8?
Senator Yussuff: So moved.
The Chair: Senator Yussuff moved:
That, pursuant to section 6(1), Chapter 3:05 of the Senate Administrative Rules, authority to commit funds to be conferred individually on the chair, the deputy chair and the clerk of the committee;
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?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
Do I have a mover for motion 9?
Senator Yussuff: So moved.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Yussuff 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.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
Do I have a mover for motion 10?
Senator Yussuff: So moved.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Yussuff moved:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be authorized to: first, 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, second, 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: I declare the motion carried.
Regarding witness expenses, do I have a mover for motion 11?
Senator Yussuff: So moved.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Yussuff 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: I declare the motion carried.
Do I have a mover for motion 12?
Senator Yussuff: So moved.
The Chair: The Honourable Senator Yussuff moved:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be empowered to direct communications officers assigned to the committee in the development of communications plans and products where appropriate and to request the services of the Senate Communications, Broadcasting and Publications 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: I declare the motion carried.
The communications officer assigned to the committee, Nicolas Daoust, is here, just to put a face to the name for all the committee members. I’m not sure if I pronounced your last name properly, but we’ll work on that.
Regarding staff in camera, do I have a mover for motion 13?
Senator Gignac: So moved.
The Chair: It was moved by the Honourable Senator Gignac:
That each committee member be allowed to have one staff person present at in camera meetings, unless otherwise agreed to by the committee.
Colleagues, this brings us to the final item before adjournment — other business.
Our regular meeting time will be on Mondays from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Room C-128 in the Senate of Canada Building. Do honourable senators have any other business or questions related to this?
Seeing none, I would like to take a moment before we adjourn, if I could. In my other role as Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, I do not like cutting off someone who is asking a question. I don’t like cutting off witnesses who are answering a question. However, with as large a committee as we have and the work we have before us, we have very tight timelines here.
There will be a limited amount of time for questions and answers. I’m not going to stick to the clock for the first meeting or so. We’ll see how things go. If things get out of hand, I’ll have to circle the wagons and see what we can do because we have a lot of work to do.
But if there is an engagement with the witnesses, I ask all members to think of the other members here who are on the list for questions and to at least be as courteous as we can to get our work done.
At the same time, we bring witnesses in. Right now, if we go with 55-minute-slot meetings, we are looking at a little over two minutes to ask your questions and for the person’s answers to complete. If we look at three 75-minute slots for our meetings, it gives you a few extra seconds but not a lot of time.
I ask for cooperation on that because, in my experience, sometimes when a senator is engaging with the witnesses, I like to see the end of that engagement before I have to move on. But, as I said, with the large committee we have and the time we have, I may be forced to stop you in your tracks sometimes. That’s something I never want to do, but, if we have to do it, I want to give a fair warning to everybody.
I ask for your cooperation and to think of the other senators around the table to give them time too — and to think of our witnesses especially, who take the time to come before our committee, so that they have the opportunity to state their case.
This is a very important bill. It’s going to receive a lot of interest from many groups and organizations and from us as senators.
As I say, it is a spirit of cooperation that we’ll start with, and you will receive it from the chair. If I have to use the authority vested in me by King Charles, I’ll do so. That’s it.
That brings us to the end of our meeting. I would like to thank you for your participation today. I look forward to a productive study.
(The committee adjourned.)