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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Thursday, October 8, 2020

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons was held on Thursday, October 8, 2020, at 11:18 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: Bruce Stanton, Chair, Working Group on the LTVP and the Centre Block Rehabilitation and Co-Chair of the Joint Interparliamentary Council; Francis Drouin, Chair, Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie; Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk, Administration; Jeremy LeBlanc, Acting Clerk Assistant and Director General, International and Interparliamentary Affairs; Philippe Dufresne, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Daniel Paquette, Chief Financial Officer; Elaine Valiquette, Senior Director, Financial Planning, Resource Management; Susan Kulba, Director General and Executive Architect, Real Property; Rob Wright, Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Parliamentary Infrastructure Branch, Public Services and Procurement Canada; Jennifer Garrett, Director General, Centre Block Program, Public Services and Procurement Canada; Pierre Parent, Chief Human Resources Officer; Patrick McDonell, Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons; Gregory Dack, Acting Deputy Director, Security Project Management and Technical Operation; Paul Mellon, Chief of Operations and Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms; Émilie Bourgoing, Manager, Partnerships, Awareness and Training; Christian Bourgeois, Executive Advisor to the Sergeant-at-Arms; Soufiane Ben Moussa, Chief Technology Officer; Guillaume LaPerrière-Marcoux, Secretariat

NEW MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

Pursuant to section 50(5) of the Parliament of Canada Act, Gérard Deltell (September 9, 2020) and Blake Richards (September 9, 2020) were recently sworn in as members of the Board.


APPOINTMENT OF BOARD SPOKESPERSONS

Pursuant to Standing Order 37(2), Blake Richards was appointed to replace Mr. Mark Strahl as a spokesperson for the Board.


MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The minutes of the meeting of July 10, 2020 were approved for tabling.


BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The Board took note of correspondence distributed since its last meeting.


RATIFICATION OF A WALKAROUND – PROPOSED MEASURES TO PREVENT AND MITIGATE THE SPREAD OF COVID-19

The Board agreed to make it mandatory for any person, including Members and their staff, House Administration employees, and parliamentary visitors, to wear a non-medical mask / face covering in common areas in the Parliamentary Precinct.

The common areas consist of the following:

• Building entrances

• Elevator lobbies

• Hallways, including common hallways within House Administration work areas

• Washrooms

• Locker rooms

• Cafeterias and canteens

• Indoor parking lots

• Elevators and escalators

• Stairways

• Meeting rooms and multipurpose rooms (masks can, however, be removed once participants are in place and can maintain physical distancing)

• Collaboration spaces

• Lunchrooms and kitchenettes


The requirement to wear a non-medical mask / face covering would not apply to:

• Sittings in the Chamber (including lobbies) and committee meetings

• Members’ offices and House Administration workspaces (e.g. when an employee is at their workstation or in their office)


However, persons present in these areas are expected to a wear mask if physical distancing is not possible.

The requirement to wear a non-medical mask / face covering does not apply to:

• Members participating in press conferences, including scrums

• A person who has a medical condition that prevents them from safely wearing a non-medical mask / face covering or who is unable to put on or remove the non-medical mask / face covering without the assistance of another person

• A person who needs to temporarily remove the non-medical mask / face covering to eat or drink


The Board also agreed to maintain the following existing measures until further notice:

• The House of Commons precinct is closed to public visitors, and public tours remain suspended

• Parliamentary activities in the precinct that are not essential to the functioning of Parliament remain suspended


LTVP WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS

Bruce Stanton, Chair of the Working Group on the LTVP and the Centre Block Rehabilitation, presented an update to the Board on the Centre Block rehabilitation project and, with Rob Wright, Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Parliamentary Infrastructure Branch, Public Services and Procurement Canada, answered questions.


The Board concurred with the recommendation of the Working Group that, with respect to the architectural design competition for the Block 2 buildings, the Chair of the Working Group be designated as the juror representing the House of Commons.


JOINT INTERPARLIAMENTARY COUNCIL – ASSEMBLÉE PARLEMENTAIRE DE LA FRANCOPHONIE, 48TH ANNUAL SESSION, MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC, JULY 7–12, 2022

Bruce Stanton, Chair of the Joint Interparliamentary Council, and Francis Drouin, Chair, Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie, presented the proposal to host the 48th Annual Session of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie in Montreaé, in July 2022, and, with Jeremy LeBlanc, Acting Clerk Assistant and Director General, International and Interparliamentary Affairs, answered questions.

The Board agreed to the proposal to host the annual session in Montréal in July 2022, with funding as follows (excluding employee benefit plans):

• $27,948 for 2020-2021

• $178,101 for 2021-2022

• $1,097,008 for 2022-2023


Funding is to be shared using the usual formula (30% Senate, 70% House of Commons) between the Senate ($390,917) and the House of Commons ($912,140).

Temporary funding for fiscal years 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 is to be absorbed from the anticipated budget surplus of associations.


QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2020-2021 AND REVISED 2020-2021 SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES (B)

Daniel Paquette, Chief Financial Officer, presented the Quarterly Financial Report for the First Quarter of 2020–2021 and the revised 2020–2021 Supplementary Estimates (B) and answered questions.

The Board took note that the carry forward in the 2020–2021 Supplementary Estimates (B) has been revised to $16.3M.


COVID-19 – PRELIMINARY FINANCIAL STATUS UPDATE

Daniel Paquette, Chief Financial Officer, provided a preliminary overview of the financial impact of some of the measures that have been taken by the House Administration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and, with Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk, Administration, and Pierre Parent, Chief Human Resources Officer, answered questions.

The Board requested that the Administration provide an update later this fall regarding the expenditures related to the COVID-19 pandemic measures as well as to review the need to extend or adjust temporary policy changes for Members relating to special measures in response to the pandemic.


At 12:26 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:31 p.m., the sitting resumed in camera.


SECURITY MATTERS

The Board discussed security matters.


The meeting was adjourned.

Charles Robert
Secretary to the Board of Internal Economy