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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons was held on Tuesday, June 9, 2015 at 11:30 a.m., in Room 340-S, Centre Block.

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

Present: The Honourables Peter Van Loan, John Duncan and Dominic LeBlanc; Mrs. Stella Ambler; Mr. Philip Toone; Mr. Peter Julian

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

Also Present: Pierre Parent, Chief Human Resources Officer; Philippe Dufresne, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Benoit Giroux, Director General, Parliamentary Precinct Operations; Mark Watters, Chief Financial Officer; Robin Kells, Secretariat

Minutes of Previous Meetings

The amended minutes of the meeting of May 26, 2015 were adopted. The minutes of June 2, 2015 were adopted with amendments. Both sets of minutes were approved for tabling.

Appointment of Board Spokesperson

Pursuant to Standing Order 37(2) , Mr. Philip Toone was appointed as spokesperson for the Board to replace Mrs. Nycole Turmel.

Use of House Resources

During a Provincial Campaign

Mr. LeBlanc recused himself for this item.

After discussion, the Board concluded, based on the House Administration’s preliminary findings, that Mr. LeBlanc did not use any House resources for the purpose of a provincial campaign.

Constituency Offices

After discussion, it was agreed that a communication will be sent to Members of Parliament reminding them of the appropriate uses of constituency offices. The Board directed that the By-law be amended to specify that the use of constituency offices as a meeting place at which to conduct party business is expressly prohibited and that this be communicated to Members.

Mailing Compliance

Further to direction provided at its meeting of February 17, 2015 , the Board discussed the House Administration’s analysis regarding certain large-volume mailings. The analysis found that these mailings were not fully in compliance with the Members By-law or Board policies due to the volume of the mailings sent outside the Members’ constituencies and/or the content of the mailings. The Board noted that these Members have already agreed to reimburse the Receiver General for the requested amounts.

The Board instructed the House Administration to return to the Board with clarified wording of the policy pertaining to large-volume mailings in the Members’ Allowances and Services Manual .

The meeting was adjourned.

Marc Bosc
Acting Secretary to the Board