Justice and Human Rights

The committee continued its clause-by-clause study of Bill C-9. The meeting was dominated by procedural disputes, primarily from Conservative members, regarding the scope of a House order that limited debate and the admissibility of subamendments. The chair ruled that the order precluded subamendments, a decision that was unsuccessfully challenged.

Amid the procedural wrangling, the committee made progress on several amendments. Liberal member Anthony Housefather withdrew his amendment LIB-4 after agreeing that Conservative member Roman Baber’s amendment CPC-10 contained superior wording. Conservative member Larry Brock also withdrew an amendment. The committee adopted amendment LIB-6, which created a new clause 11.1, and later confirmed that the vote on that amendment was sufficient to adopt the clause without a separate vote.

The meeting ended with Conservative member Andrew Lawton seeking unanimous consent to rename the bill the “combatting freedom of expression act,” which was seconded by Larry Brock. The outcome of that request was not resolved in the transcript.