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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Thursday, February 16, 2023

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons was held on Thursday, February 16, 2023, at 11:03 a.m., in Room 225-A, West Block.

In the Chair: The Honourable Anthony Rota, Speaker of the House of Commons

Present: The Honourables Mark Holland, Steven MacKinnon, Andrew Scheer and Kerry Lynne Findlay; Ms. Ruby Sahota, Ms. Claude DeBellefeuille and Mr. Peter Julian

Acting Secretary to the Board: Eric Janse, Acting Clerk of the House of Commons

Also Present: Michel Bédard, Interim Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Dominic Laporte, Chief Executive Officer, Translation Bureau; Matthew Ball, Vice-President, Translation Bureau; Ian McDonald, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate; Scott Lemoine, Principal Clerk, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate; Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer; Paul St George, Chief Financial Officer; José Fernandez, Deputy Chief Financial Officer; Sylvie Lafontaine, Senior Director, Decision Support and Financial Planning; Michelle Tittley, Secretariat

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The minutes of the meeting of December 7, 2022, were approved for tabling.


BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The Board noted correspondence distributed since its last meeting.

The Board discussed the policy governing costs for home Internet services at Members’ primary residences and their employees’ residences, and Paul St George, Chief Financial Officer, answered questions. The Board decided

• that the policy allowing Members to charge Internet service fees for their primary residence to their Member’s Office Budget (MOB) cease at the end of the day on March 31, 2023; and

• that the temporary measure allowing Members to reimburse their employees who are teleworking from home for Internet service expenses as a charge against the MOB not be renewed after March 31, 2023.


QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2022–2023

Paul St George, Chief Financial Officer, presented the Quarterly Financial Report for the Third Quarter of 2022–2023 and answered questions.


At 11:16 a.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 11:20 a.m., the meeting resumed in camera.


LEGAL MATTERS

• The Board approved the payment of legal fees incurred by the estate of a late Member of Parliament in the amount of $6,535.05 at the rates charged by outside counsel, as an exception under the Legal Fees Policy, and subject to the invoices being reviewed by the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel.

• The Board also approved the payment of future legal fees to the estate of the late Member up to $10,000.00, at the rates charged by outside counsel, as an exception under the Legal Fees Policy, and subject to the invoices being reviewed by the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel.


At 11:51 a.m., the meeting resumed in public.


TRANSLATION BUREAU – RESOURCE UTILIZATION FOR SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETATION

Dominic Laporte, Chief Executive Officer, Translation Bureau, and Matthew Ball, Vice-President, Services to Parliament and Interpretation Sector, Translation Bureau, appeared before the Board and, with Ian McDonald, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate, Scott Lemoine, Principal Clerk, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate, and Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer, answered questions.


The meeting was adjourned at 12:34 p.m.

Eric Janse
Acting Secretary to the Board of Internal Economy