Library of Parliament

The committee held its first meeting to elect its joint chairs and vice-chairs. Senator Scott Tannas was elected joint chair by the Senate side, and MP Sukh Dhaliwal was elected joint chair by the House of Commons side. MP William Stevenson was elected first vice-chair, and MP Louis Plamondon was elected second vice-chair.

The committee then adopted several routine procedural motions. These motions empowered the joint chairs to make decisions on the agenda, invite witnesses, schedule hearings, and direct research staff. Additional motions authorized the chairs to direct communications officers, set the quorum at six members with representation from each House and both government and non-government parties, and required that all documents distributed to members be available in both official languages.

During the meeting, Senator Tannas proposed that the committee invite the Library of Parliament to provide updates on plans for the visitor experience in the renovated Centre Block and the new parliamentary welcome centre. Members supported the idea of an information session, with MP Bardish Chagger emphasizing the need for substantive details on accessibility, official languages, and the visitor experience. The committee agreed to proceed with this request. No further decisions were made, and the matter was left for future scheduling.