Justice Committee on June 17th, 2025

[The Clerk of the Committee, Jean-François Lafleur]

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 and the vice-chairs.

I must inform members that the clerk of the committee can only receive motions for the election of the chair. The clerk cannot receive any other types of motions, entertain points of order or 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 am ready to receive motions for the chair.

Mr. Maloney.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Thank you.

I would like to nominate for the position of chair the Honourable Marc Miller. I'll just say a bit about Mr. Miller.

I've been working with him since we were both elected in 2015. He's thoughtful, he's compassionate and he's patient. These are all qualities that stand in high regard as a committee chair. I think he also has a strong legal background.

Everything I've seen him do in the 10 years I've served with him, he's done with class and in a very professional manner. I think he would serve as an excellent chair for the justice committee in this session.

I nominate the Honourable Marc Miller.

[The Clerk]

Thank you, Mr. Maloney.

Are there any other motions?

Seeing none, it has been moved by Mr. Maloney that Mr. Miller be elected chair of the committee

(Motion agreed to)

I see it's unanimous. Thank you.

I declare the motion carried, and the Honourable Marc Miller elected chair of the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Miller]

Good afternoon, everyone.

I would like to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights for this nice endorsement.

Thank you, James, for being almost entirely accurate in your description of who I am.

Before we continue, there are some new people here, so I'd ask that all in-person participants consult the written guidelines on the table before you. You've most likely seen them. The measures are there to help our translators, in particular, not have audio feedback, which can do damage, in their workplace environment. When you're there, stay a finger's distance from the mic, and don't slam the earpieces in outrage, whether feigned or otherwise.

Obviously, these are people whose jobs depend on their ability to translate and hear us properly, so let's think of them when we have our back-and-forth, which is sure to happen.

You'll notice the QR code on the card. It links to a short awareness video, if that wasn't clear enough.

With that, if the committee is in agreement, I will invite the clerk to proceed now with the very important election of the vice-chairs.

[The Clerk]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the first vice-chair must be a member of the official opposition.

Consequently, I am now prepared to receive motions for the first vice-chair.

[Roman Baber, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

I nominate MP Larry Brock.

[The Clerk]

Thank you.

Are there any further motions?

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

Are we doing both vice-chairs, or one at a time?

[The Clerk]

We're doing them one after the other.

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

Okay. That's fine. I'm sorry.

[The Clerk]

Thank you.

Seeing no other motions, it has been moved by Mr. Baber that Mr. Brock be elected as first vice-chair of the committee.

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Brock duly elected as first vice-chair.

[Roman Baber, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Can I still say a few nice things about him? I'm kidding.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations, ON]

Mr. Chair, can I have the floor?

Thank you, colleagues, for your confidence.

This is the second term that I have been elected as vice-chair of the justice committee. In my view, it's a unique committee. There is generally a cross-floor level of collaboration. It's highly respectful. We're all highly educated within our chosen fields.

I look forward to that continued dialogue and co-operation moving forward.

[The Clerk]

Thank you, Mr. Brock and Mr. Chair.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the second vice-chair must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition.

I am now ready to receive motions for the position of second vice-chair.

Ms. Lattanzio, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Clerk.

I nominate Mr. Fortin. I sat with him on another committee, and I can assure the committee that he works closely with the team, that he will no doubt support our chair and that he will certainly contribute to the committee's success.

[The Clerk]

Thank you.

Does anyone want to move another motion?

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Since the second vice-chair must be a member of a party other than the official opposition, I'm elected by default. I won't be able to brag about having won a highly contested election.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Ms. Lattanzio that Rhéal Éloi Fortin be elected as second vice-chair of the committee.

Is it your pleasure to adopt the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

[The Clerk]

I declare Mr. Fortin duly elected second vice-chair.

Congratulations, Mr. Fortin.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Like Mr. Brock, I thank the members for their trust, even though, as I said, I didn't have a lot of competition.

That said, this is my third time serving as vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

As I mentioned earlier, as long as we talk to each other respectfully, we can advance ideas in everyone's best interest. I assure you that you will always have my co-operation in having frank and respectful discussions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Miller]

Congratulations, Mr. Fortin and Mr. Brock.

If I understand correctly, Mr. Fortin will have to leave us in 15 minutes, and Andréanne Larouche will be replacing him during that time. I just wanted the committee to be aware of that.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

He has just been appointed and he's already leaving; things are off to a good start.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

The committee will not lose out, as Ms. Larouche is a very attentive colleague.

Thank you. I'll see you at the next meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Miller]

That's fantastic.

For the members here, I have just a couple of rules of order before we get into the sole order of business today.

To Larry's point, just wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. Comments should be addressed, obviously, through the chair. Things can get heated, but as Larry said, this has generally been a respectful committee. There may be times when things will need to get under a little bit better control. Obviously, we'll be a little more casual, but out of respect for your colleagues, please make sure I recognize you before speaking.

For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For those appearing virtually, please use the “raise hand” function.

Thanks for your co-operation.

On this point, I would go to the sole order of business today, which deals with the routine motions that deal with our internal governance. The committee clerk circulated a list a couple of days ago. You should have, I think, a draft of the routine motions, which I believe all committees are seized of in the same substance and form.

With the agreement of the committee, we can now proceed to examining these motions that are indeed very routine.

Clerk, how do you want to do this? I understand we're not adopting en bloc, but we're—

[The Clerk]

It can be done both ways, one by one or all in total. It might be better to go one by one just to make sure everyone has everything in hand, but it's all up to the committee to decide.