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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Thursday, February 23, 2017

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons was held on Thursday, February 23, 2017, at 11:15 a.m., in Room 340-S, Centre Block.

In the Chair: The Honourable Geoff Regan, Speaker of the House of Commons

Present: The Honourables Bardish Chagger, Dominic LeBlanc, Pablo Rodriguez and Candice Bergen; Messrs. Gordon Brown and Murray Rankin

Acting Secretary to the Board: Marc Bosc, Acting Clerk of the House of Commons

Also Present: Philippe Dufresne, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Daniel Paquette, Chief Financial Officer; André Gagnon, Acting Deputy Clerk; Eric Janse, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate; Colette Labrecque-Riel, Acting Clerk Assistant and Director General, International and Interparliamentary Affairs Directorate; Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer; Pierre Parent, Chief Human Resources Officer; Guillaume La Perrière Marcoux, Secretariat

NEW MEMBER OF THE BOARD

Pursuant to subsections 50(2) and 50(5) of the Parliament of Canada Act, the Hon. Pablo Rodriguez was recently sworn in as a member of the Board (January 31, 2017).

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The minutes of the meeting of November 24, 2016 were adopted and approved for tabling.

BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The Board noted correspondence distributed since its last meeting.

REQUEST FROM THE LIAISON COMMITTEE

The Board agreed that the Liaison Committee be allowed to spend up to $600,000 more than the amount allocated for the global envelope for committee activities for the current fiscal year to fund activities, if needed. The Board also agreed that the annual funds in the amount of $250,000 for the purpose of financing forensic, e-consultation and other specialized experts, be permanently transferred to the budget for funding all other committee activities, including operations, studies and travel.

The Board agreed to allocate an additional $1.7 million to the global envelope for committee activities for future fiscal years, starting on April 1, 2017.

JOINT INTERPARLIAMENTARY COUNCIL

ParlAmericas 15th Plenary Assembly

The Board approved that the 15th Plenary Assembly of ParlAmericas be held in Victoria, B.C. from September 9 to 12, 2018. The Board also approved temporary funding of $25,000 for fiscal year 2017-2018 and $465,210 for fiscal year 2018-2019 for a total of $490,210, which would be shared according to the usual formula between the Senate (30%, i.e. $147,063) and the House of Commons (70%, i.e. $343,147).

Request for Additional Office Space for the International Secretariat of ParlAmericas

Following a detailed requirements analysis of the request for additional office space for the International Secretariat of ParlAmericas, the Board was informed that no temporary funding will be needed to accommodate the request and that office space requiring very little modification has been identified for this purpose.

MEMBERS' ALLOWANCES AND SERVICES

Communication and Collaboration Services for Members

The Board was briefed on the new and improved communication and collaboration services that will be available to Members in shared meeting rooms in the Wellington Building, as well as in their parliamentary and constituency offices.

Bloc Québécois Request for Additional Resources

Following a renewed request made on behalf of the Members of the Bloc Québécois, an unrecognized party, for additional funding to support its activities, the Board discussed the proposed conditions of use of the Caucus Coordination Budget (CCB) previously approved by the Board. The Board reconfirmed the previously approved conditions and agreed on the following modifications to the use of the CCB:

  1. Allow Members of the Bloc Québécois to make more than one annual transfer from their Member's Office Budget to the CCB, subject to all transfer requests being received in writing before December 31 each year;
  2. Allow employees paid from the CCB to accompany the Member responsible for the CCB on caucus business only;
  3. Allow the transfer of a maximum of one special travel point per Member, when needed, on the condition that the Chief Financial Officer be advised in writing prior to the date of travel;
  4. In order to be ready for April 1, require that each Member advise the Chief Financial Officer in writing, before March 15, of the amount to be transferred from their Member's Office Budget to the CCB; and
  5. Require that the Member responsible for the CCB provide a new letter of offer to each employee who will be paid from this budget.

The Board also denied the renewed request for additional funding.

Members Representing Northern Constituencies

The Board received an update on the effects of the interim measures related to chartered aircraft for Members who represent constituencies located in northern and remote communities and agreed to maintain these measures until the House Administration completes its review of the By-laws and policies for Members.

ADMINISTRATION

Launch of Requisition

The Board was informed of the key features of Requisition, the new integrated electronic tool for the purchase of goods and services that will replace the current E-Ordering system on April 3, 2017, and of the related support services that will be offered.

Negotiations Update and New Mandate

The Board took note of the arbitral award rendered by the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board following collective bargaining for the Reporting and Text Processing Sub-Groups bargaining unit and approved a revised negotiation mandate for the 2015 round of collective bargaining.

2015-2016 Annual Report on Internal Audit

The Board noted and discussed the Annual Report on Internal Audit for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016.

The meeting was adjourned.

Marc Bosc
Acting Secretary to the Board