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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Thursday, November 26, 2020

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons was held on Thursday, November 26, 2020, at 11:04 a.m., in Room 035-B, West Block.

In the Chair: The Honourable Anthony Rota, Speaker of the House of Commons

Present: The Honourables Mark Holland, Dominic LeBlanc, Ginette Petitpas Taylor and Pablo Rodríguez; Mr. Gérard Deltell, Mr. Blake Richards, Ms. Claude DeBellefeuille and Mr. Peter Julian

Secretary to the Board: Charles Robert, Clerk of the House of Commons

Also Present: Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk, Administration; Philippe Dufresne, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; André Gagnon, Deputy Clerk, Procedure, Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer; Patrick McDonell, Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons; Gregory Dack, Acting Deputy Director, Security Project Management and Technical Operation; Paul Mellon, Chief of Operations and Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms; Richard Emery, Assistant Commissioner, Federal Policing, National Security and Protective Policing, RCMP; Bruce Kirkpatrick, Officer-in-charge, Protective Operations, RCMP; Nathalie Vinette, Divisional Intelligence Officer, Protective Intelligence Unit, National Division, RCMP; Guillaume LaPerrière-Marcoux, Secretariat

SECURITY MATTERS

The Board approved the implementation of a web monitoring service for Members along with temporary funding for the one-time setup costs ($363,000) and for the necessary salary and operations costs ($1,264,629). The Board requested that a status report be presented on the effectiveness of the service before the end of the first year.


REVIEW OF USE OF HOUSE OF COMMONS RESOURCES

The Board discussed the use of House of Commons resources.


At 12:34 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:36 p.m., the sitting resumed in public.


MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The minutes of the meeting of November 19, 2020, were adopted and approved for tabling.


BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The Board took note of correspondence distributed since its last meeting and André Gagnon, Deputy Clerk, Procedure, and Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer, answered questions.


SUSTAINING END-USER SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer, presented a proposal for on-going operational funding to sustain end-user software subscriptions for Members of Parliament and their staff, and employees of the House of Commons Administration.


The Board approved funding for end-user software subscriptions, including business productivity, resiliency and cyber security, data protection and service management, as follows:

(a) $1,954,910 for fiscal year 2021–2022 and subsequent years for Members of Parliament and their staff.

(b) $1,181,946 for fiscal year 2021–2022 and subsequent years for employees of the House of Commons Administration.


The meeting was adjourned.

Charles Robert
Secretary to the Board of Internal Economy