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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Monday, June 1, 2020

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons was held on Monday, June 1, 2020, at 3:06 p.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, Pablo Rodríguez and Candice Bergen; Mr. Mark Strahl, 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; Philippe Dufresne, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Pierre Parent, Chief Human Resources Officer; Daniel Paquette, Chief Financial Officer; Rebekah Kletke, Chief Operations Officer; José Fernandez, Deputy Chief Financial Officer; Eric Janse, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate; Guillaume LaPerrière-Marcoux, Secretariat

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The minutes of the meetings of March 12, April 3 and April 27, 2020, were adopted and approved for tabling.


BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETING

The Board noted correspondence distributed since its last meeting.


RATIFICATION OF URGENT REQUESTS

1. Communicating with Constituents during the COVID-19 Situation

The Board agreed to the following temporary changes:


A. That the policy regarding householders and constituency mail be modified effective April 14 until June 30, 2020, by:

• allowing Members to provide their constituents with information relating to COVID-19 using external printing services, as a charge against the House Administration central budget, to produce, print, assemble and/or seal:

o one householder equivalent to the number of households in their constituency and one constituency mail product equivalent to the number of households in their constituency, or

o two constituency mail products equivalent to the number of households in their constituency for each product;


• allowing a maximum allocation of one time the number of households in a Member’s constituency for every 30-calendar day period as one or multiple requests, regardless of the product;

• offering limited approved formats:

o 8.5 x 11 (letter),

o 8.5 x 14 (legal),

o 11 x 17 (tabloid),

o 9,625 x 13 (flyer – 2 pages),

o 19,25 x 13 (flyer – 4 pages),

o post card, and

o reply card;


• allowing Members to include logos and/or COVID-19–related messages from local community, government or not-for-profit organizations that would be of interest to their constituents;

• allowing Members to solicit donations for registered Canadian charities on matters related to the COVID-19 situation;

• requiring Members to submit their requests to Printing and Mailing Services along with the external printing services supplier’s contact information, the cost estimate for content and format validation, the proof and final print-ready file, and the approval of the cost estimate as a charge against the House Administration central budget;

• maintaining the current policy to charge to the Member’s Office Budget (MOB) the cost of unaddressed constituency mail at the preferred bulk mail rate set by Canada Post; and

• allowing the cost of envelopes and mail preparation for constituency mail sent as addressed mail to be charged to the House Administration central budget;


B. That the policy regarding external printing services be modified effective April 17 until June 30, 2020, by:

• maintaining the current limit of 5,000 essentially identical copies of a document when using external printing services, except for the production of householders and constituency mail approved by the House Administration;

• allowing Members to include information (i.e. website address, phone number and logo) and/or COVID-19–related messages from local community, government or not-for-profit organizations that would be of interest to their constituents; and

• allowing Members to solicit donations for registered Canadian charities on matters related to the COVID-19 situation;


C. That the policy regarding advertising be modified effective April 17 until June 30, 2020, unless otherwise indicated, by:

• allowing Members to include information (i.e. website address, phone number and logo) and/or COVID-19–related messages from local community, government or not-for-profit organizations that would be of interest to their constituents;

• allowing Members to solicit donations for registered Canadian charities on matters related to the COVID-19 situation; and

• increasing the limit to 20% for advertising expenses charged to the MOB for fiscal year 2020–2021;


D. That the policy regarding Internet service provided to Members’ employees for the months of March, April, May and June 2020 be modified by:

• allowing Members to reimburse, as a charge against their MOB, their employees who are supporting them in carrying out their parliamentary functions for reasonable residential high speed Internet service.


2. House of Commons Preventive Measures during the COVID-19 Situation

The Board agreed that within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and in light of recommendations issued by public health authorities, the following preventive measures remain in effect until the Board decides otherwise:

• access to the House of Commons precinct is closed to visitors and public tours are cancelled;

• committee travel is suspended; and

• parliamentary functions and events in the House of Commons precinct are cancelled.


3. Constituency Offices – Expenses related to COVID-19 Prevention in the Workplace

The Board agreed to allow certain expenses related to implementing COVID-19 preventive measures in constituency offices to be charged to the House Administration’s COVID-19 central budget during the 2020–2021 fiscal year (retroactive to April 1, 2020), in accordance with the following:


A. Guiding principles:

• Expenses are directly related to implementing COVID-19 preventive measures in constituency offices and to ensuring the health and safety of employees, constituents and other visitors who enter the workplace.

• Expenses are related to Members’ parliamentary functions and comply with other Board policies.

• Expenses are aligned with implementing preventive measures from the Public Health Agency of Canada and are informed by measures from provincial and municipal health agencies.


B. Eligible expenses:

Consumable items for constituency offices:

The following consumable expenses for constituency offices are eligible, up to a limit of $1,500 per constituency office:

• non-medical masks and hand sanitizers for Members, their employees and constituents, and other office visitors;

• posters, signs and floor stickers;

• additional cleaning supplies, including gloves and disinfectant wipes; and

• additional routine cleaning services associated with COVID-19.


In addition, the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) may pre-approve, where warranted and reasonable, other types of expenses associated with COVID-19 prevention measures as a charge against the House Administration COVID-19 central budget, up to the established limit of $1,500 per constituency office mentioned above.

Constituency office reconfigurations and fixtures:

Expenses specifically related to COVID-19 incurred by Members for constituency office reconfigurations and for the purchase and installation of fixtures are allowable, up to a limit of $2,000 per constituency office.

For Members requiring special accommodations, the CHRO, in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), is authorized to pre approve as a charge against the Administration’s COVID-19 central budget, where warranted and reasonable, additional expenses related to COVID-19 prevention measures that are above the established limit of $2,000, but that do not exceed $3,500 per constituency office.

Emergency professional cleaning and disinfecting services:

The CHRO is authorized to pre-approve as a charge to the House Administration’s COVID-19 central budget, where warranted and reasonable, the costs associated with emergency professional cleaning and disinfecting services for constituency offices. These expenses will not be subject to a maximum limit.


UPDATE: COMMUNICATING WITH CONSTITUENTS DURING THE COVID-19 SITUATION

Rebekah Kletke, Chief Operations Officer, answered questions about the proposed extension of policy changes regarding Members’ communications with constituents.

The Board agreed to extend to March 31, 2021, the exception to the Board’s current by-laws and policies in order to allow the following in Members’ communications materials, whether they are produced externally or internally:

• including logos and/or COVID-19–related messages from local community, government or not-for-profit organizations that would be of interest to their constituents; and

• encouraging donations to registered Canadian charities on matters related to the COVID 19 situation.


IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROACTIVE DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS OF THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT AT THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

Daniel Paquette, CFO, presented the implementation of the proactive disclosure requirements of the Access to Information Act at the House of Commons and, with Philippe Dufresne, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; José Fernandez, Deputy Chief Financial Officer; and Eric Janse, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate, answered questions.


The Board approved, effective as of June 1, 2020:

• the proposed approach to ensure compliance by Members, Presiding Officers, House Officers, Members responsible for National Caucus Research Offices, and the House Administration with the Access to Information Act, as amended by An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts;

• that Caucus Chairs be authorized to incur hospitality expenses against their office budgets, and that such expenses be limited to 3% of their annual budgets;

• that the House Officer designated by the Party Leader to organize national caucus meetings be authorized to incur hospitality expenses for national caucus meetings, up to the total amount of the National Caucus Meetings Budget; and

• funding for 70% of an additional full-time equivalent for the International and Interparliamentary Affairs Directorate to implement changes related to proactive disclosure.


The Board approved, effective for all transactions received for payment as of June 21, 2020:

• the proposed design and content of the new disclosure reports for Members, Presiding Officers, House Officers, and the House Administration; and

• that the “Resources Provided by the House” column not be included in the new quarterly Summary of Expenditures for Members.


The Board agreed that the Members By-law and the Members’ Allowances and Services Manual be amended to reflect these policy changes.

The Board requested that House Administration provide additional information regarding the disclosure of Members’ designated travellers and the exceptions to disclosure based on security risks in the Parliamentary Precinct and parliamentary privilege.


TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF TRANSITION SUPPORT FOR FORMER MEMBERS DUE TO THE COVID-19 SITUATION

Pierre Parent, CHRO, presented a proposal to extend transition support services to former Members due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Board approved temporary exceptions to some of its by-laws and policies regarding transition support services for Members who were not seeking re-election or who were not re-elected in the 43rd general election.


REQUEST FOR EXCEPTION

The Board considered a request for exception to the external printing policy and approved the reimbursement of a Member’s printing and mailing expenses as a charge to the MOB for 2019–2020.


The meeting was adjourned.

Charles Robert
Secretary to the Board of Internal Economy