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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Thursday, May 13, 2021

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons was held on Thursday, May 13, 2021, at 11:03 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: Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk, Administration; Eric Janse, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate; Michelle Laframboise, Chief Human Resources Officer; Robyn Daigle, Director, Members’ HR Services; Rebekah Kletke, Chief Operations Officer; Julie Allard, Director, Client Service Delivery; Philippe Dufresne, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Daniel Paquette, Chief Financial Officer, Guillaume LaPerrière-Marcoux, Secretariat


MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The minutes of the meeting of April 22, 2021, were approved for tabling.


BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The Board took note of documents distributed since its April 22 meeting and asked questions about recent, audio-related technical matters. Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer, provided answers. The Board requested additional information about upcoming hybrid committee meetings, and Eric Janse, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate, provided clarifications.

The Board discussed the April 14 incident regarding the inappropriate sharing of a screenshot. Mr. Holland proposed that the Board invite Mr. Sebastien Lemire, Member of Parliament for Abitibi–Témiscamingue, to appear before the Board in camera to answer questions about the incident. The Board agreed to continue with the other items on the agenda, including an in camera session to discuss legal matters, and to resume the discussion on this topic in public once the legal questions have been addressed.


MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS RESOURCES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR MEMBERS AND THEIR EMPLOYEES

Michelle Laframboise, Chief Human Resources Officer, presented information on the mental health and wellness and professional development resources available to Members and their employees, and sought the Board’s direction on whether additional resources were required to meet the needs of Members and their employees. The Board determined that further discussion was required between the respective party Whips before the Administration returned to the Board on this item. However, in the interim, the Administration will provide the Board with additional information about expenditure trends related to the Member’s Office Budget (MOB) to support a more fulsome discussion regarding professional development for Members’ employees.


The meeting was adjourned. Due to time constraints, it was decided that all remaining agenda items would be carried forward to the next Board meeting.

Charles Robert
Secretary to the Board of Internal Economy