Briefing package for the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons - 2023

[ * ] An asterisk appears where sensitive information has been removed in accordance with the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act.

Proposed Future Briefings :

• Private Members’ Business – September replenishment

PCO introductory meeting - Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

August 2023

Purpose

Role of the Government House Leader

Managing the government’s program in Parliament and its parliamentary team

• Legislative Agenda
• Strategic management of issues
• Caucus, opposition parties, SACA

Managing the day-to-day operations of House activities

• Procedural matters
• Debate during Government Orders
• Parliamentary returns

Member of Cabinet

• Operations (CCOPS) Canada and the World
• Sub-Committee on Intergovernmental Coordination
• Full Cabinet

Minister responsible for two Acts

• Parliament of Canada Act
• National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act

Relationship with PCO

• Deputy Minister support provided by PCO Deputy Secretary for Governance, Paul MacKinnon
  

  Legislation and House Planning Secretariat

  Julia Aceti	Assistant Secretary
  Shane Wittenburg	Liaison to the GHLO
  Jean Cintrat	Director of Operations, Parliamentary Affairs
  Timothea Gibb	Director of Operations, Cabinet Affairs

• Weekly Minister-DM bilats to discuss core issues; daily interactions between teams to support all aspects of GHL mandate
• PCO’s Corporate Services Branch provides administrative support to GHLO such as budget, HR, accommodation, correspondence services

Core areas of support

Legislative agenda

• Developing and delivering the priority plan for the sitting
• Ongoing planning and coordination across government to advance priority bills
• Ensuring realistic and effective parliamentary strategies for Government legislation
• Preparing materials to support bill review meetings
• Ensuring departments can deliver on planned legislation

Cabinet decision-making

• Preparing briefing notes to support Cabinet discussions
• Ensuring timely consideration by Cabinet of Private Members Business (PMB) and Government Responses
• Encouraging policy development shaped by Parliamentary dynamics

House management

• Advising on parliamentary procedure
• Coordinating the preparation of parliamentary returns across government
• Supporting PMB management

Committee management

• Timely reporting on committee outcomes
• Coordinating production of documents

Key issues for fall sitting

Priority legislation

• Development of priority list
• [ * ]

Private Members’ business management

• [ * ]
• Next 15 items will become eligible for debate on September 20, 2023, including:
  • 6 LPC; 4 CPC; 4 NDP; 1 BQ
• [ * ]

Appointments with Parliamentary Nexus

• Clerk of the House of Commons
• Clerk of the Senate
• Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
• Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel
• Usher of the Black Rod

Key issues for fall sitting

Committee management

• Committees increasingly requesting documents with a broad scope and with challenging deadlines
• Contention over government redactions and the tension between protection of information and Parliamentary privilege
  • E.g. – OGGO McKinsey production of papers, requests for confidential information from PACP, INDU, PROC

[ * ]

Ad-Hoc Committee on the Winnipeg Lab

• In May, the GHL announced the membership of the ad hoc committee of MPs and the panel of arbiters to examine documents related to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg and determine how that information could be disclosed more widely without compromising national security
• The Ad Hoc committee members have started to review the documents and are expected to continue in the fall

Advancing Government priorities

[ * ]

Building Parliamentary sensitivity in policy development process

• [ * ]
• Policy proposals sensitive to Parliamentary context, SACA

Effective management of Government bills and PMBs

• [ * ]

Ensure parliamentary committees focused on Government priorities

• Undertake studies that further the Government’s agenda (e.g., medium-term legislative priorities; statutorily required reviews of laws; ministerial appearances on mandate letter and Government priorities)

Next steps

• [ * ]
• Preparing for fall replenishment of Private Members Business (development of government positions, negotiations with sponsors)

Annex A: Priority legislation plan, winter sitting

[ * ]

Annex B: Key committee business

Annex C: Parliamentary Returns

• GHL is responsible for coordinating the Government’s responses to written questions, public petitions, and notices of motions for the production of papers, as well as Senate written questions and Delayed Answers
• The Legislation and House Planning Secretariat, in consultation with GHLO, ensures that requests for parliamentary returns are assigned to the appropriate departments, agencies and Crown corporations, prepares the tabling packages of responses, and supports GHL/Parliamentary secretary in tabling the responses
• Compliance with the prescribed deadlines is necessary. If Government responses to public petitions or priority written questions are not tabled on time (i.e., 45 calendar days), the matter is automatically referred to the appropriate standing committee to investigate the failure to respond

Briefing to the Government House Leader – Fall legislative plan

August 2023

Context - Legislative Priorities of the Government

• [ * ]
• PCO canvasses departments to submit Ministerial priorities; GHLO canvasses political offices concurrently
• Submissions are assessed for relevance to key government priorities and calibrated to what is achievable with available House time; readiness and achievability also key metrics

Fall sitting (September to December 2023)

 

• 11 sitting weeks
• [ * ]
• 18 bills currently before the House and 5 before the Senate
• [ * ]

Proposed priorities – Early in sitting

[ * ]

Proposed priorities – Mid sitting

[ * ]

Proposed priorities – Later sitting

[ * ]

Priority Indigenous Legislation

[ * ]

Potential priorities if policy work concludes in early fall

[ * ]

Status of Existing Legislation

(see Annex A for further detail)

• Not all bills will advance given limited time for debate and new bills planned for introduction; priorities for consideration will be required
• There is a need to advance items in the Senate to ensure a steady flow of Government business for consideration in that chamber

[ * ]

Next steps

• [ * ]
• Weekly updates on progress against the plan

Annex A: Status of Existing Legislation

Annex B: Priority legislation plan, winter sitting

[ * ]

Briefing to the Government House Leader – Ad hoc Committee on the Winnipeg Lab

August 2023

Chronology – Request for Papers and Creation of Ad-hoc Committee

March 2021

• Special Committee on Canada-China Relations (CACN) adopted motion for documents from the Public Health Agency (PHAC) on transfer of viruses to Chinese lab from Canadian government lab and subsequent dismissal of two employees

April-June 2021 (end of sitting for 43rd Parliament)

• PHAC provided redacted documents to protect national security and personal information
• CACN insisted on fully unredacted documents and reported to House to order unredacted documents; House ordered unredacted documents on June 2, 2021
• PHAC declined; Minister of Health offered the documents to NSICOP for review
  • All opposition parties refused this approach, NSICOP received a briefing but did not review documents
• Speaker ruled prima facie question of privilege and House ordered PHAC President to appear at bar of House to be admonished, which happened on June 21, 2021
• Opposition raised points of privilege stating unredacted documents were still not provided; Speaker did not rule before dissolution on August 15, 2021
• At the beginning of the 44th Parliament, the CPC indicated their desire to renew the production order; GHL responded by suggesting a screening process like the one used in the 2021 Afghan detainee case, which prompted the creation of the ad-hoc committee

Vetting mechanism established

• In December 2021, GHL proposed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to create an ad hoc committee of MPs and a Panel of Arbiters external to the House
• In October 2022, Government and recognized opposition parties signed MOU
• Committee membership and Panel of Arbiters announced in May 2023
• Committee to consider relevance to Parliamentarians of redacted information, and any disputed redactions will be referred to the Panel of Arbiters for final determination
• Panel to determine whether and how to best share information publicly; their decisions are final
• Committee may produce a report outlining methodology and practices used and may include recommendations for process improvements

[ * ]

Current status

• Committee members are security cleared and signed an undertaking of confidentiality
• Members received initial briefings and began their review of documents in early June; in camera meetings are facilitated by public servants
• [ * ]

Annex A: Members

Members of the Ad Hoc Committee:

• Iqra Khalid (Liberal)
• John Williamson (Conservative)
• René Villemure (Bloc Québécois)
• Heather McPherson (NDP)

Alternates members:

• Taleeb Noormohamad (Liberal)
• Marty Morantz (Conservative)
• Christine Normandin (Bloc Québécois)
• Don Davies (NDP)

Panel of Arbiters:

• The Honourable Ian Binnie, of Toronto, Ontario, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
• The Honourable Eleanor Dawson, of Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, former judge of the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal
• The Honourable Marshall Rothstein, of Vancouver, British Columbia, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada

Memorandum of Understanding

between
The Honourable Mark Holland, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and
The Honourable Andrew Scheer, House Leader of the Official Opposition and
Mr. Alain Therrien, House Leader of the Bloc Québecois and
Mr. Peter Julian, House Leader of the New Democratic Party

I. Recognizing that Opposition Parties in the House of Commons have expressed their desire for the production of Government documents from the Public Health Agency of Canada related to the transfer of Ebola and Henipah viruses to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in March 2019, and the subsequent revocation of security clearances for, and termination of the employment of, Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and Dr. Keding Cheng which the House ordered produced in the previous Parliament on June 2,2021, which contain information the disclosure of which would be injurious to national security, national defence or international relations, or other public or private interests if publicly released.

II. Notwithstanding the expiration of this order at dissolution, recognizing that the government has made a good faith proposal to share these documents in a manner that recognizes the role of the House of Commons to hold the government to account and respects the government's obligation to keep certain information confidential to protect Canadians.

In order to move forward on this issue, the parties agree as follows:

1. An ad hoc committee of parliamentarians will be established external to the House of Commons and consisting of one Member of Parliament designated by the leaders of the governing party and each opposition signatory party with recognized status in the House of Commons. Each party may designate one alternate Member of Parliament who may act as a replacement of a Member of the ad hoc committee when that Member is absent; no more than one Member from each party can participate in the ad hoc committee at a given time.
2. The ad hoc committee will have access to all documents listed in the expired House Order of 2 June 2021, pursuant to the following confidentiality measures:
   1. Access to the documents is conditional on each Member signing a confidentiality undertaking and taking an oath of confidentiality, as prescribed hereinafter;
   2. Each Member, before receiving access to documents, will obtain a security clearance at the Secret level;
   3. Access to the documents shall take place at a secure location under the control of the Government of Canada, subject to the following security conditions on access to, and handling of, classified materials:
      • Members of the ad hoc committee will be required to provide identification; No staff of the Members are to be included;
      • No electronic, wireless, photographic, cellular, recording, or storage devices are permitted;
      • No materials are to be removed from the designated location;
      • No copies of materials are permitted to be made;
      • No notes are permitted to be removed from the location at any time; and
      • Any notes made by Members of the ad hoc committee may only be accessed by the author of those notes or his or her alternate and any such notes shall be destroyed six months after the completion of the review documents;
   4. The review of documents is to take place with all procedural protections normally accorded to in camera proceedings, including a ban on the publication of the proceedings and on the disclosure, directly or indirectly, of any information which is protected from disclosure; and
   5. Any Member violating the confidentiality will be immediately expelled from the ad hoc committee by the Panel of Arbiters established in paragraph 6, with no other Member of Parliament permitted to be substituted in the place of that expelled Member.
3. In order to understand what information has been protected from disclosure for the purpose of national security, national defence and international relations and shall not be disclosed by Members, the Members will be provided access to documents in both redacted and non-redacted form.
4. Any support required by the ad hoc committee will be provided by an ongoing group of public servants with the appropriate security clearances and subject-matter expertise. The group of public servants, from the relevant departments/agencies, will provide briefings and contextual information initially, and then as necessary, to the ad hoc committee to assist Members in carrying out their work and to understand the security implications and reasons for protecting certain information from disclosure.
5. With respect to every document that has been redacted, the ad hoc committee will determine whether the information therein is relevant to matters of importance to the Members of Parliament, and whether the use of such information is necessary for the purpose of holding the government to account. The decisions of the ad hoc committee related to relevance shall be final and unreviewable.
6. Where the ad hoc committee determines that information is both relevant and necessary, or upon the request of any Member of the ad hoc committee, it will refer disputed information to a Panel of Arbiters, who will determine how that relevant and necessary information will be made available to Members of Parliament and the public without compromising national security, national defence or international relations, or any other public or private interest either by redaction or the writing of summaries or such techniques as the Panel may find appropriate, bearing in mind the basic objective of maximizing disclosure and transparency. The Panel of Arbiters should regularly consult with the Members of the ad hoc committee to better understand what information the Members believe to be relevant and the reason(s) why. The decisions of the Panel of Arbiters with respect to disclosure shall be final and unreviewable.
7. In carrying out its activities, the ad hoc committee will ensure that it does not interfere with, or compromise, any investigation of similar matters being conducted by law enforcement or other competent authorities.
8. The Panel of Arbiters will be composed of three eminent jurists. Composition of the Panel must be agreed upon by both Government and Opposition signatories.
9. The ad hoc committee may produce a report at the end of the review of documents, outlining the methodology, practices and procedures used and containing any recommendations for improvements to the process of review. Should the ad hoc committee deem that circumstances warrant, it may also produce an interim report at any time before the production of a final report. Before any report is finalized, it shall be submitted to the Panel of Arbiters for decision regarding disclosure to ensure that the information in the report does not compromise national security, national defence or international relations, taking into considerations the factors outlined in paragraph 6.
10. This Memorandum of Understanding survives a dissolution of Parliament provided that the leaders of the governing party and each opposition party with recognized status in the House of Commons following a general election sign a Memorandum in the same terms in the next Parliament.
11. Documents, as described in the preamble of this agreement, will be tabled in the House of Commons once they have been vetted, and protected where necessary, as per the above described process.
12. Before receiving access to the aforementioned documents, each member (including alternates) shall take the following oath:
    
    

    I, …, swear (or solemnly affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true loyalty to Canada and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and freedoms I respect and whose laws I will uphold and obey. I further swear (or solemnly affirm) that I will not communicate or use without due authority any information obtained in confidence during the review of documentation.

13. Before receiving access to the aforementioned documents, each Member (including alternates) shall sign the following binding undertaking of confidentiality:
    The House of Commons adopted a now expired Order, on 2 June 2021, for the production of Government documents from the Public Health Agency of Canada related to the transfer of Ebola and Henipah viruses to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in March 2019, and the subsequent revocation of security clearances for, and termination of the employment of, Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and Dr. Keding Cheng, which contain information the disclosure of which would be injurious to national security, national defence or international relations if publicly released.
    While Members of the House of Commons need to obtain information that is necessary to hold the Government to account, such disclosure must be balanced by the Government's obligations to protect information, including information that would be injurious to national security, national defence or international relations if publicly released.
    
    In recognition of the above concerns, I, therefore undertake as follows:
    1. I will take the prescribed oath before obtaining access to any confidential information, which is defined as information that the Government of Canada has identified as being protected from disclosure and that the Panel of Arbiters has not determined can be disclosed without compromising national security, national defence or international relations.
    2. I will obtain a security clearance at the Secret level before obtaining access to the information described in paragraph 1.
    3. I will treat all information described in paragraph 1 as strictly classified.
    4. I will not use or communicate, directly or indirectly, any of the information described in paragraph 1, including in parliamentary proceedings, to any other individuals, including to other Members of Parliament or to my staff.
    5. I will take best efforts to ensure that there is no inadvertent disclosure of the information described in paragraph 1.
    6. I will not remove any of the documents that include information described in paragraph 1 from a secure Government of Canada facility.
    7. I will not make any copies of the information described in paragraph 1; any notes will not be removed from the secure Government of Canada facility and will be destroyed six months following the completion of the review of documents.
    8. I understand that this undertaking is a continuing obligation, which survives the dissolution of this Parliament.

    Date:

    Signature:

    Memorandum of Understanding signed at Ottawa, Ontario, October 31, 2022.
    
    

    For the Government of Canada
    
    Mark Holland

    For the Opposition in the House of Commons
    
    Andrew Scheer
    
    Alain Therrien
    
    Peter Julian

Supply and Confidence Agreement Commitments

August 2023

Supply and Confidence Agreement

• The Supply and Confidence Agreement (SACA) announced with the NDP on March 22, 2022, includes 25 concrete commitments under 7 themes (15 have a legislative component)
• The Government is making strong progress on these commitments
• [ * ]

Status

Strong progress on signature items

• Development of a new dental care program for low-income Canadians
• Launching a Housing Accelerator Fund
• Providing 10 days of paid sick leave for all federally-regulated workers
• Ensuring Quebec’s seats in the House of Commons remain constant

Key initiatives advanced through legislation last sitting

• Early Learning and Childcare (C-35, currently at second reading in the Senate)
• Beneficial Ownership (C-40, currently at second reading in the House)
• Atlantic Accords (C-49, currently at second reading in the House)
• Sustainable Jobs (C-50, currently at second reading in the House)

Additional priorities ready for fall sitting

• [ * ]

Key considerations for fall sitting

• [ * ]

Annex A: SACA Commitments

A better healthcare system

Commitment	Update	Legislation
Launch dental care program for low-income Canadians	Significantly Advanced – Dental care for children under 12 in 2022 was completed - Bill C-31, Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2, which received Royal Assent November 17, 2022. Dental Care Measures Act received Royal Assent on June 22, 2023 (C-47, BIA). Health Canada preparing for program launch for full implementation. Additional funding could be provided through a BIA or Estimates.
Passing a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023 and tasking the National Drug Agency to develop a national formulary of essential medicines and bulk purchasing plan	Work ongoing – [ * ]
Work with PTs to better deliver health outcomes for Canadians	Significantly Advanced – Bill C-46 (Amendments to the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act) received Royal Assent – provides $2 billion in top-up payments to PTs for 2023. There is also a commitment to provide top-up payments to achieve CHT increases of at least five per cent per year for the next five years. Policy work is still underway. [ * ]. The Government is also providing additional funding to PTs through tailored bilateral agreements.
Introducing a Safe Long-Term Care Act	Work ongoing – [ * ]

Making life more affordable for people

Commitment	Update	Legislation
Extend the Rapid Housing Initiative for an additional year	Completed
Refocus Rental Construction Financing Initiative on affordable units	Work ongoing – Budget 2022 announced that the RCFI will target a goal of having at least 40 per cent of units it supports provide rent equal to or lower than 80 per cent of the AMR in their local community.
Launch a Housing Accelerator Fund	Completed
Implementing a Homebuyer’s Bill of Rights and tackling the financialization of the housing market by the end of 2023	Work ongoing – The Federal government is working with PTs on the development of a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights. Budget 2022 announced a two-year ban on foreign investment in Canadian housing, a tax on underused foreign-owned homes, the taxing of assignment sales (included in BIA 1, 2022), and ensuring that property flippers pay their fair share (included in BIA 1, 2023).
A $500 one-time top-up to Canada Housing Benefit	Completed – C-31, Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2, received Royal Assent November 17, 2022.
Introducing an Early Learning and Child Care Act	Completed – C-35, Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act, received House Passage on June 19, 2023. The bill is expected to receive Royal Assent by the end of 2023.

Tackling the climate crisis and creating good paying jobs

Commitment	Update	Legislation
Advance emissions reductions measures and accelerate trajectory to net zero	Work ongoing – Policy work underway to develop Government of Canada “Buy Clean” and “Green Building” Strategies. Strengthened carbon pricing standards published in August 2021. Economic measures to develop clean electricity through approximately $20 billion in direct investment announced in Budget 2023. Further Economic measures to attract investment in Canadian clean technologies across a variety of sectors announced in Budget 2023. C-49, Atlantic Accords Act Amendments to enable offshore renewable energy development introduced in May 2023.
Move forward on creating Clean Jobs Training Centre in 2022	Work ongoing – $250 million committed in 2022 Fall Economic Statement to support sustainable jobs, including a Sustainable Jobs Training Centre.
Move forward with Sustainable Jobs Legislation	Completed – Interim sustainable jobs plan released in February 2023. C-50, Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act, was introduced in June 2023. The bill could be passed by the House by the end of 2023.
Developing a plan to phase-out public financing of the fossil fuel sector	Completed – Inefficient fossil fuel subsidy framework released in July 2023.
Move forward on home energy efficiency programs in 2022	Completed – $4.4 billion announced in Budget 2021 to create the Canada Green Homes Loan Program. $200 announced in Budget 2022 for the Deep Retrofit Accelerator Initiative.

A better deal for workers

Commitment	Update	Legislation
Ensuring that the 10 days of paid sick leave for all federally regulated workers starts as soon as possible in 2022	Completed – C-3, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code, received Royal Assent December 17, 2021, and implemented December 2022.
Introducing legislation by the end of 2023 to prohibit the use of replacement workers, when a union employer in a federally regulated industry has locked out employees or is in a strike	Work ongoing – Announced in Budget 2023. [ * ].

Reconciliation

A fairer tax system

Commitment	Update	Legislation
Move forward on tax changes on financial institutions who have made strong profits during the pandemic in near term	Completed – C-32, Economic and Fiscal Update Implementation Act, 2021, received Royal Assent December 15, 2022, implemented the Canada Recovery Dividend.
Implement publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry by end of 2023	Significantly Advanced – C-42, Beneficial Ownership Registry, was introduced on March 22, 2023, and passed by the House on June 22, 2023. Royal Assent expected in early November.

Making democracy work for people

Commitment	Update	Legislation
Explore ways to remove barriers to voting, such as: expanded “Election Day” of three days of voting; allow people to vote at any polling place in their Electoral District; and improve process of mail-in ballots	Work ongoing – [ * ]
Ensure Quebec’s number of seats in the House of Commons remains constant	Completed – C-14, An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867, received Royal Assent June 23, 2022.