BCAN Committee Meeting

THE SPECIAL JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF POWERS UNDER THE BUILDING CANADA ACT

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

OTTAWA, Tuesday, March 10, 2026
(1)

[English]

Pursuant to the order of the Senate of Tuesday, December 2, 2025, and the order of the House of Commons of Thursday, November 20, 2025, the Special Joint Committee on the Exercise of Powers Under the Building Canada Act met this day in room 425, Wellington Building, at 6:35 p.m. for the purpose of holding its organization meeting, pursuant to rule 12-13 of the Rules of the Senate and subsection 106(1) of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons.

Representing the Senate: The Honourable Senators Carignan, P.C., Gignac, Harder, P.C., LaBoucane-Benson and Varone (5).

Representing the House of Commons: Dean Allison, Carol Anstey, the Honourable Rachel Bendayan, P.C., the Honourable Kody Blois, P.C., Patrick Bonin, Sukh Dhaliwal, Aaron Gunn, Gabriel Hardy, Corey Hogan, Tim Louis and Shannon Stubbs (11).

Participating in the meeting: Marie Dumont and Stephanie Feldman, Analysts, Library of Parliament.

The joint clerk for the Senate presided over the election of the joint chair for the Senate.

The Honourable Senator Varone moved:

That the Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson be elected joint chair of the committee, representing the Senate.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The joint chair for the Senate presided over the election of the deputy chair for the Senate.

Mr. Blois moved:

That the Honourable Senator Varone be elected as deputy chair of the committee, representing the Senate.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(3)(a), the joint clerk for the House of Commons presided over the election of the joint chair.

Mr. Dhaliwal moved:

That Mr. Allison be elected joint chair of the committee, representing the House of Commons.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The joint clerk for the House of Commons presided over the election of the vice-chairs for the House of Commons.

Mr. Louis moved:

That Mr. Dhaliwal be elected as first vice-chair of the committee, representing the House of Commons.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Ms. Bendayan moved:

That Mr. Bonin be elected as second vice-chair of the committee, representing the House of Commons.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Ms. Stubbs moved:

That the committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the joint chairs, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Carignan, P.C., moved:

That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be composed of the joint chairs and the vice-chairs, and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Carignan, P.C., moved:

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.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Harder, P.C., moved:

That the joint chairs 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 and of the House of Commons Social Media Team for the purposes of the promotion of their work.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Varone moved:

That witnesses be given five 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 joint chairs, the order of questions for the first round of questioning shall be as follows: four minutes House of Commons Liberal, four minutes House of Commons Conservative, four minutes House of Commons Bloc Québécois and four minutes for each senator; and that the questioning during the second and subsequent rounds shall be divided as follows: three minutes House of Commons Conservative, three minutes House of Commons Liberal, two minutes House of Commons Bloc Québécois and two minutes for two senators on a rotational basis to be determined by the Senate parliamentary groups.

The Honourable Senator Varone moved that the motion be amended by replacing the motion with the following:

That witnesses be given five 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 joint chairs, committee members be recognized in the following order of questioning:

1. In the context of a three-hour panel:
1. first round: four minutes for each committee member;
2. second round: four minutes for each Member of Parliament and three minutes for each Senator;
3. third and subsequent rounds: two minutes for a House of Commons Liberal member, two minutes for a House of Commons Conservative member, two minutes for a House of Commons Bloc Québécois member, and two minutes for one Senator, to be determined by the joint chair from the Senate;
2. In the context of a one-and-a-half hour panel:
1. first round: three minutes for each committee member;
2. second and subsequent rounds: two minutes for each Member of Parliament and two minutes for two Senators on a rotational basis following the rotation used for questions during Question Period in the Senate; and that the rotation shall carry over to the next round of questioning or panel of witnesses, whether at the same meeting or at a subsequent meeting.

That any committee member may yield their time to another committee member from the same House of Parliament.

At 6:57 p.m., the committee suspended.

At 7:08 p.m., the committee resumed.

After debate, the question was put on the motion in amendment, it was adopted on the following vote:

YEAS

The Honourable Senators Harder, LaBoucane-Benson, Varone, and Rachel Bendayan, Kody Blois, Sukh Dhaliwal, Corey Hogan, Tim Louis — [8]

NAYS

The Honourable Senators Carignan, Gignac, and Carol Anstey, Aaron Gunn, Gabriel Hardy, Shannon Stubbs, Patrick Bonin — [7]

ABSTENTIONS

Nil

Resuming debate on the motion as amended.

It was agreed that debate on the motion as amended be adjourned.

Mr. Hardy moved:

That the joint clerks of the committee be authorized to distribute to the members of the committee only documents that are available in both official languages; and that witnesses be advised accordingly.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Harder, P.C., moved:

That all documents submitted for committee business that do not come from a federal department, members’ offices or senators’ offices, that have not been translated by the Translation Bureau, be sent for prior linguistic review by the Translation Bureau before being distributed to members.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Dhaliwal moved:

That the joint clerks of the committee, at the discretion of the joint chairs, be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide snacks and beverages for the committee and its subcommittees.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Gignac moved:

That either joint chair or, in accordance with the direction of the joint chairs, either joint clerk be authorized to approve payment of expenditures of the committee.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Ms. Anstey moved:

That, if requested, reasonable expenses related to the appearance 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 joint chairs.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Louis moved:

That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff person at in camera meetings and that one additional person from each House officer’s office be allowed to be present and, for the Senate, that the Office of the leader or facilitator of the Government and of each recognized party or parliamentary group be entitled to one additional staff member at these meetings, provided that all committee members and staff present shall take the oath of secrecy as set out in subsection 62(3) of the Emergencies Act.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Harder, P.C., moved:

That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be securely retained by the joint clerks for consultation by members of the committee or by their staff, provided that they have taken the oath of secrecy as set out in subsection 62(3) of the Emergencies Act; that the analysts assigned to the committee have access to the in camera transcripts; and that the transcripts be destroyed when the committee ceases to exist.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Varone moved:

That the committee publish its proceedings in both official languages.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Mr. Dhaliwal moved:

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 joint clerks 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, Senators and the offices of the whips of each recognized party in both official languages by the joint clerks 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.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Carignan, P.C., moved:

That the joint clerks 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 joint chairs advise the committee, at the start of each meeting, of any witness who did not perform the required technical tests.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

The Honourable Senator Varone moved:

That the joint clerk of the committee for the House of Commons be authorized to grant access to the committee's digital binder to the offices of the whips of each recognized party, provided that they have taken the oath of secrecy as set out in subsection 62(3) of the Emergencies Act.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Ms. Stubbs moved:

That the joint chairs shall have the ability to fully participate, including to move motions and to vote on all items before the committee.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

Ms. Stubbs moved:

That when an equality of votes arises, (a) on a debatable motion, the vote shall be deemed not to have occurred and the committee shall resume debate on the question; and (b) on a non-debatable motion, it shall be negatived.

Debate arose thereon.

At 7:47 p.m., the committee suspended.

At 7:52 p.m., the committee resumed.

It was agreed that the debate on the motion of Ms. Stubbs, be now adjourned.

At 7:54 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chairs.

ATTEST:

Ferda Simpson

Ariane Calvert

Joint Clerks of the Committee