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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Thursday, November 29, 2018

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons was held on Thursday, November 29, 2018, at 11:17 a.m., in Room 237-C, Centre Block.

In the Chair: The Honourable Geoff Regan, Chair of the Board of Internal Economy

Present: The Honourables Bardish Chagger, Mark Holland and Candice Bergen; Mr. Mark Strahl; Ms. Ruth Ellen Brosseau

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

Also Present: Yasmin, Ratansi, M.P., Chair, Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth; Hedy Fry, P.C., M.P., Director, OSCE Parliamentary Association; Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk, Administration; Philippe Dufresne, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Colette Labrecque-Riel, Clerk Assistant and Director General, International and Interparliamentary Affairs; Pierre Parent, Chief Human Resources Officer; Robyn Daigle, Director, HR Services; Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer; Daniel Paquette, Chief Financial Officer; Guillaume La Perrière Marcoux, Secretariat

Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the meeting of November 1, 2018, were adopted and approved for tabling.


Business Arising from Previous Meetings

The Board noted correspondence distributed since its last meeting.


JOINT INTERPARLIAMENTARY COUNCIL

65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in January 2021

Yasmin Ratansi presented the proposal to host the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Halifax in January 2021. She and Colette Labrecque-Riel answered questions.


29th Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vancouver, British Columbia, in July 2020

Hedy Fry presented the proposal to host the 29th Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vancouver, British Columbia, in July 2020. She and Colette Labrecque-Riel answered questions.


The Board agreed to continue the discussion on these two proposed conferences at the next meeting following a report from the Joint Interparliamentary Council on the governance of parliamentary associations.


SERVICES TO MEMBERS

New Human Resources Services for Members as Employers

Pierre Parent and Robyn Daigle presented and answered questions on the proposed establishment of a service within the House Administration dedicated to providing human resources advisory services and programs to Members to assist them in fulfilling their role as employers.


The Board agreed to continue the discussion on this topic at a future meeting.


Managed Computing for Constituencies

Stéphan Aubé presented the implementation of a standardized approach to the delivery and management of computer and printing equipment in constituency offices. He and Daniel Paquette answered questions.


The Board approved the following, effective following the next general election, unless otherwise specified:

1. Implement a managed computing for constituencies program that:

a. Provides each Member up to five managed computing devices as well as several standard software packages and support services per constituency as a charge against the House Administration central fund. The House Administration will be responsible for the life-cycling process of these devices;

b. Allows the purchase of up to five additional managed or non-managed computing devices from the House of Commons standard offering as a charge against the Member’s Office Budget (MOB). Additional managed or unmanaged devices purchased through the MOB will remain in the care and custody of the constituency office (including responsibility and costs for life-cycling);

c. Restricts the purchase of all managed or unmanaged computing devices to the House of Commons standard offering for parliamentary and constituency offices;

d. Allows the Chief Information Officer to review, assess and permit the purchase of additional devices (including Apple computers) or software to meet the special requirements of a Member. Such purchases must be paid for through the MOB; and

e. Allows newly elected Members to choose to retain, return or exchange, for a period of six months following their election, the computing devices provided by the House Administration to the former Member, while securing the former Member’s information.

2. Implement a printing solution that is compatible with the managed computing for constituencies program and that:

a. Provides Members with one multi-purpose printing solution that is compatible with the new centrally managed constituency computing devices for each official constituency office as a charge against the House Administration central fund. Under the following terms:

• the House Administration will be responsible for the life-cycling process of these devices; and

• any required expenses for at-fault service support (beyond normal wear and tear), fax line and multi-purpose printing solution copy charges for all devices will be charged against the MOB.

b. Allows for the purchase of additional multifunctional devices, fax machines, photocopiers, scanners or printers for a Member’s constituency office from the House of Commons standard offering as a charge against the MOB. Additional devices purchased through the MOB will remain in the care and custody of the constituency office (including responsibility and costs for life-cycling, maintenance and support); and

c. Restricts the purchase of all devices in this category to the House of Commons standard offering for parliamentary and constituency offices and maintains the prohibition on the purchase of high-capacity printing equipment.

3. Effective immediately, allow access to the Enhanced Constituency Connectivity Service for all official constituency offices.

4. Effective April 1, 2019, amend the Internet Supplement Policy by:

a. Allowing for the reimbursement of business-grade Internet service and of additional telecommunication charges that form part of a bundle, including basic cable and reasonable upgraded Internet, for all official constituency offices against a House Administration central fund. For these to be an eligible expense, Members are responsible for:

• acquiring and managing their Internet service for all official constituency offices; and

• obtaining the approval from Digital Services and Real Property prior to proceeding with a provisioning request to an Internet service provider.

b. Removing the current Internet supplement from the MOB.

5. Approve funding for this initiative in the amount of $2.7M for 2019–2020, $3.7M for 2020–2021 and $1.4M for 2021–2022 and subsequent years.

6. Amend the Members’ Allowances and Services Manual accordingly.

7. Amend the Governance and Administration By-law in accordance with the new measures adopted.


The meeting was adjourned.

Charles Robert
Secretary to the Board of Internal Economy