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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Monday, June 3, 2013

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons was held on Monday, June 3, 2013 at 11:15 a.m., in Room 112-N, Centre Block.

In the Chair: The Honourable Andrew Scheer, Speaker of the House of Commons

Present: The Honourables Peter Van Loan, Gordon O’Connor and Rob Merrifield; Mrs. Nycole Turmel and Ms. Judy Foote

Secretary to the Board: Audrey O’Brien, Clerk of the House of Commons

Also Present: Mark Watters, Chief Financial Officer; Richard Fujarczuk, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Richard Denis, Deputy Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer; Marc Bosc, Deputy Clerk; Eric Janse, Clerk Assistant and Director General, International and Interparliamentary Affairs; and Suzanne Verville, Secretariat

Tabling of Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of April 29, 2013 were approved for tabling .

Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the meeting of May 27, 2013 were adopted.

Report from the Sub-Committee on Travel

The Board approved the report from the Sub-committee on Travel but requested further information on the actual use of travel points for dependants under the age of six before making a decision about this group.

Posting of the Minutes of the Board of Internal Economy

The Board approved that the House Administration proceed with the posting of all minutes approved for tabling by the Board for the 41st Parliament on parl.gc.ca .

Legal Matter

The Board approved in principle the payment of legal fees of Members in a complaint but requested that the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel make a thorough review of the legal fees to be charged in this matter, and report back to the Board in the fall.

Requests for Exception

The Board did not approve two requests for exception nor did it approve that one of the camera expenses purchased in the last fiscal year be charged to the 2012-13 Member’s Office Budget. The Board did authorize the reimbursement of the cameras of two Members up to the maximum allowed provided that the assets remain entirely the property of the House of Commons pursuant to Members By-law .

The Board also requested the House Administration to amend the Members’ Allowances and Services manual to allow Members to personally fund a portion of the purchase of a camera or video camera if the cost exceeds the maximum allowable purchase price provided that the assets remain the property of the House of Commons.

Members’ Allowances and Services

Newspaper Subscriptions for IPad and PlayBook Devices

The Board agreed that subscription fees for electronic newspapers and periodicals (weekly, monthly or quarterly basis only) may be charged against the Member’s Office Budget. It maintained the current policy whereby the purchase and maintenance of applications and other digital content for tablet devices are personal expenses of the Member, unless the Board has specifically allowed it as a charge against the Member’s Office Budget.

Public Cloud Services

The Board agreed to recommend to all Members not to store, manage or process non-public data in any public cloud and, should they elect to do so, to give careful attention to managing the risks associated thereto. The Board also agreed that Members who choose to use public cloud services will be personally responsible under the terms and conditions of the service provider.

Mailing Privileges

The Board discussed policies regarding mailing privileges for large-volume mailings and approved the following changes, effective June 3, 2013:

  • Members are provided with a quantity of envelopes up to a maximum of one time the number of households (plus 10%) in the Member’s constituency. Any envelopes provided in excess of the allocation will be charged to the Member’s Office Budget;
  • Members are entitled to 2500 franking envelopes per single request and to one time the number of households (plus 10%) in the Member’s constituency for large-volume mailings.

The Board agreed that the other dispositions of the current policy regarding large-volume printing and mailing remain the same.

Canada’s Participation in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

The Board discussed the recommendation of the Joint Interparliamentary Council (JIC) that Canada cease its participation in the IPU when the current membership expires on December 31, 2013.

The Board agreed that the Chair send a letter to the JIC Co-Chairs asking the Council to reflect on its decision and to review the contributions required by other multilateral organizations.

The meeting was adjourned.

Audrey O’Brien
Secretary to the Board