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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Thursday, March 25, 2021

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons was held on Thursday, March 25, 2021, at 11:07 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: Judy A. Sgro, Chair, Liaison Committee; Kelly Block, Chair, Standing Committee on Public Accounts; Francis Drouin, Chair, Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie; Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk, Administration; Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer; Eric Janse, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate; Jeremy LeBlanc, Acting Clerk Assistant and Director General, International and Interparliamentary Affairs; Daniel Paquette, Chief Financial Officer; Philippe Dufresne, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Guillaume LaPerrière-Marcoux, Secretariat

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The minutes of the meeting of February 25, 2021, were approved for tabling.


BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The House Administration submitted the information requested by the Board at its February 25 meeting regarding resource utilization for parliamentary events, audio headsets for virtual Parliament, and technical observations on hybrid proceedings that include committee witnesses. The Board agreed that the reports be shared with the Liaison Committee.

The Board asked questions about the resource utilization for parliamentary events. Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer; Eric Janse, Clerk Assistant for the Committees and Legislative Services Directorate; and Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk, Administration, provided answers. Supplementary information on this subject will be provided to the Board.


CANADIAN COUNCIL OF LEGISLATIVE AUDITORS (CCOLA) AND CANADIAN COUNCIL OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEES (CCPAC) 2022 CONFERENCE

Judy A. Sgro, Chair of the Liaison Committee, and Kelly Block, Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, presented a proposal to host the annual conference of the Canadian Council of Legislative Auditors (CCOLA) and the Canadian Council of Public Accounts Committees (CCPAC) in Ottawa in summer 2022.

The Board agreed to the proposal with a maximum of $42,035 (including anticipated revenues from registration fees) to be provided for the organization of the conference, of which the House will be responsible for $27,323 (65% CCPAC) with the remaining 35% coming from the CCOLA, and that the temporary funding be absorbed from the anticipated budget surpluses of Committees.


SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES

Eric Janse, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate, presented a proposal to obtain funding for activities of the Special Committee on the Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States.

The Board approved an interim budget of $50,000 for the Special Committee, to be allocated from the 2020–2021 and/or 2021–2022 global budget envelopes for standing committees.


JOINT INTERPARLIAMENTARY COUNCIL – PARLEMENT FRANCOPHONE DES JEUNES – ASSEMBLÉE PARLEMENTAIRE DE LA FRANCOPHONIE, 47TH ANNUAL SESSION, MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC, JULY 7–12, 2022

Francis Drouin, Chair of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie, presented a proposal to expand the scope of the 47th Annual Session of the Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), to be held in Montréal from July 7 to 12, 2022, to include the Parlement francophone des jeunes (PFJ) in the organization of the conference and, with Jeremy LeBlanc, Acting Clerk Assistant and Director General, International and Interparliamentary Affairs, answered questions.

The Board agreed to the proposal with a maximum of $100,000 of temporary funding. This amount is to be funded from the anticipated budget surpluses of Parliamentary Associations for the 2022–2023 fiscal year. Funding is to be shared using the usual formula (30% Senate, 70% House of Commons) between the Senate ($30,000) and the House of Commons ($70,000).


DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN TYPES OF MAIL TO MEMBERS’ CONSTITUENTS LIVING OUTSIDE CANADA

Rebekah Kletke, Chief Operations Officer, presented a proposal to change certain policies regarding householders and constituency mail distributed to Members’ constituents living outside Canada in the Members’ Allowances and Services Manual (MAS), and to amend the Members By-law accordingly. She and Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk, Administration, answered questions.

The Board approved the following policy changes, effective March 25, 2021:

1. Regarding householders:

• allow Members to send householders as addressed mail to their constituents living outside Canada and whose information is included in the list of electors provided by the Chief Electoral Officer;

• continue charging the costs for additional copies of householders printed by Printing and Mailing Services to the Member’s Office Budget (MOB); and

• charge envelope costs and international postage for householders sent to constituents living outside Canada to the MOB.

2. Regarding constituency mail:

• allow Members to use a portion of their original allocation (i.e. up to eight times the number of households in their constituency per calendar year) to send constituency mail as addressed mail to their constituents living outside Canada and whose information is included in the list of electors provided by the Chief Electoral Officer; and

• charge envelope costs and international postage for constituency mail sent to constituents living outside Canada to the MOB.

The Board also approved the proposed amendments to the Members By-law.

The House Administration will conduct further analysis and return to the Board at a later date to propose options related to the mail coverage for Members’ constituents living in Canada but temporarily outside their constituency.


MODERNIZATION OF ELECTION-RELATED POLICIES

The Board agreed to the proposal to modernize certain policies in the Members’ Allowances and Services Manual applicable to Members, Members responsible for national caucus research offices, and House Officers during dissolution, as well as during the post-election and transition periods, and to amend the Members By law accordingly.

The Board approved the following policy changes, effective March 25, 2021:

1. Allow eligible employees retained on closing notice to benefit from the same allocations for travel between the constituency and Ottawa as provided to the departing Member, as a charge against the Member’s Office Budget, subject to fund availability, and that the Members By-law be amended accordingly;

2. Allow access to the Parliamentary Precinct network for 90 days following an election through one House-managed portable device for Members not seeking re-election or not re-elected, and that the Members By-law be amended accordingly;

3. Allow Members not seeking re-election or not re-elected a 90 day period following an election to indicate their intention, in writing, to purchase their main cell phone for personal use at fair market value;

4. Approve the revised mandatory clauses and require that they be included in any new constituency office lease or extension to an existing lease (including in respect of any lease renewal or lease extension agreement) entered into after the next general election, and confirm that Members who are prevented from adding these clauses will consult the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel;

5. Allow Members, Members responsible for national caucus research offices, Presiding Officers and House Officers to keep, at the end of their mandate, all frames and framed items related to their parliamentary functions that were displayed in their offices;

6. Authorize the House Administration, as a charge against it central budget, to safely dispose of personal items that Members, Members responsible for national caucus research offices, Presiding Officers and House Officers fail to retrieve from the Parliamentary Precinct within 90 days following an election or the day their parliamentary functions cease; and

7. That the period during which former Members can travel using transition support allocations and incur other eligible expenses be:

• the transition period plus any extension, to receive a transition service;

• the transition period plus any extension, to appear at a job interview; and

• the transition period, to sell a Member’s residence.


At 11:54 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:01 p.m., the sitting resumed in camera.


IMPACT OF DISSOLUTION ON THE ADDITIONAL ANNUAL ALLOWANCES OF CERTAIN HOUSE OFFICERS

As per past practice, the Board agreed that the additional annual allowances for Opposition Party Leaders, Opposition House Leaders and Chief Whips of recognized parties continue to be paid during the dissolution period of the 43rd Parliament.


LEGAL MATTERS

The Board discussed a legal matter.


The meeting was adjourned.

Charles Robert
Secretary to the Board of Internal Economy