Special Committee on Canada-China Relations (CACN) Backgrounder

Background

The House of Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations (CACN) was established as a result of a motion passed by the House of Commons on December 10, 2019. When Parliament was prorogued on August 18, 2020, CACN's mandate was concluded; however, upon the opening of the second session of the 43rd Parliament on September 23, 2020, CACN was re-established with the same mandate.

The Committee is mandated to conduct hearings to examine and review all aspects of the Canada–China relationship, including, but not limited to, consular, economic, legal, security and diplomatic relations. The Committee will be granted all the powers of a standing committee, as provided in the Standing Orders of the House of Commons. In addition, the mandate specifically grants the Committee authority to order the Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Public Safety, and Canada's Ambassador to China to appear as the committee sees fit.

GAC has been heavily implicated in the Committee, including through appearances by the Deputy Minister, Ambassador Barton and other officials. Given the CACN's broad mandate, several Departments will likely also be engaged including, but not necessarily limited to Justice, Public Safety; Department of National Defence; Innovation, Science and Economic Development; Finance; Agriculture and Agri-food Canada.

Membership

The Committee consists of 12 Members of Parliament (MP), with membership weighted in line with the proportion of sitting MPs from each party.

• Six members from the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC):
  • Geoff Regan, Chair 
  • Emmanuel Dubourg
  • Peter Fragiskatos
  • Robert Oliphant, Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Jean Yip
  • Lenore Zann
• Four members from the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC):
  • Garnett Genuis, Vice-Chair
  • Michael Chong, Foreign Affairs Critic
  • Pierre Paul-Hus
  • John Williamson
• One member from the Bloc Quebecois (BQ):
  • Stephane Bergeron, Vice-Chair – Foreign Affairs Critic
• One member from the New Democratic Party (NDP):
  • Jack Harris, Vice-Chair – Foreign Affairs Critic

Committee Operations

• Powers: The committee has been granted all the powers of a regular standing committee. The committee will decide if it wants to conduct proceedings in camera or in public/televised and it is safe to assume that the Official Opposition will want as much of the proceedings televised as possible.
• Voting: Since the Chair only votes in the event of a tie, a united opposition could win any vote with a 6-5 majority.  Inversely, the government would always need the agreement of at least one of the opposition parties to ensure that it can pass a vote or to prevent a problematic opposition motion from carrying.
• Schedule: The committee meets on Mondays and Tuesdays from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Members can attend meetings in person or via videoconference.
• Witnesses: After the passing of a unanimous consent motion on September 23, 2020, all committees are required to have witnesses participate remotely. Additionally, witnesses before all committees are given five minutes for opening remarks.
• Questioning: during the questioning of witnesses, 6 minutes are allocated for the first questioner of each party, as follows, for the first round: CPC, LPC, BQ, and NDP. For the second, and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning is as follows: CPC, 5 minutes; LPC, 5 minutes; CPC, 5 minutes, LPC, 5 minutes; BQ, 2.5 minutes; NDP, 2.5 minutes.
• No Expiration: The committee does not have a set expiry date and can continue studying issues and reporting until Parliament is dissolved (via prorogation or an election).

Statement by Prime Minister Trudeau

In Question period on December 11, 2019, the Prime Minister made the following mention of the CACN:

Mr. Speaker, over the past year, we have been working at all levels to ensure the safety of the Canadians being detained, and indeed continue to advocate for their release as we stand up for our canola farmers, as we protect our beef and pork exporters and as we continue to engage with this important trading partner, while at the same time standing up for human rights every step of the way.

We recognize there is an opportunity to collaborate further on the special committee on China. We just certainly hope the opposition parties will be careful not to play politics and endanger the lives of those Canadians with it.

Text of the motion establishing the Special Committee

That, in light of the prolonged diplomatic crisis with China, the House appoint a special committee with the mandate to conduct hearings to examine and review all aspects of the Canada–China relationship, including, but not limited to, consular, economic, legal, security and diplomatic relations:

1. that the committee be composed of 12 members, of which six shall be government members, four shall be from the official opposition, one shall be from the Bloc Québécois and one from the New Democratic Party;
2. that changes in the membership of the committee shall be effective immediately after notification by the whip has been filed with the Clerk of the House;
3. that membership substitutions be permitted, if required, in the manner provided for in Standing Order 114(2);
4. that the members shall be named by their respective whip by depositing with the Clerk of the House the list of their members to serve on the committee no later than January 15, 2020;
5. that the Clerk of the House shall convene an organization meeting of the said committee for no later than January 20, 2020;
6. that the committee be chaired by a member of the government party;
7. that notwithstanding Standing Order 106(2), in addition to the Chair, there be one vice-chair from the official opposition, one vice-chair from the Bloc Québécois and one vice-chair from the New Democratic Party;
8. that quorum of the committee be as provided for in Standing Order 118 and that the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence printed when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including one member of the opposition and one member of the government;
9. that the committee be granted all of the powers of a standing committee, as provided in the Standing Orders, as well as the power to travel, accompanied by the necessary staff, inside and outside of Canada;
10. that the committee have the power to authorize video and audio broadcasting of any or all of its proceedings; and
11. that the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Public Safety, and the Canadian ambassador to China be ordered to appear as witnesses from time to time as the committee sees fit.

Date modified:

2021-08-20