Board of Internal Economy meeting

The Agenda includes information about the items of business to be dealt with by the Board and date, time and place of the meeting. The Transcript is the edited and revised report of what is said during the meeting. The Minutes are the official record of decisions made by the Board at a meeting.

For an advanced search, use Publication Search tool.

If you have any questions or comments regarding the accessibility of this publication, please contact us at accessible@parl.gc.ca.

2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

Previous day publication Next day publication

XML PDF

House of Commons Emblem

Board of Internal Economy

NUMBER 028

1st SESSION

44th PARLIAMENT

TRANSCRIPT

Thursday, April 11, 2024

[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]

(1105)

[Translation]

Hon. Greg Fergus (Speaker of the House of Commons):

Good afternoon, dear colleagues.

I hope you all benefited from the break in our respective ridings these last two weeks. We are back, and we have to discuss important subjects today during this meeting of the Board of Internal Economy.

[English]

We'll start off right away with a review of the previous minutes.

Would anybody like to approve the minutes of February 29, 2024?

Thank you, Mr. Julian and Madam Fortier. Are all in favour?

(Motion agreed to)

[Translation]

We will now move on to business arising from previous meetings. Would anyone like to raise a point on this item?

Since there are no questions, let’s move on to another subject, the electric vehicle charging stations and implementing the pay-per-use system.

I invite Mr. Dicaire to give us his presentation.

Mr. Benoit Dicaire (Acting Chief Information Officer, House of Commons):

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[English]

I'm here today with a proposal for consideration by the board to enable a pay-per-use model for an electric vehicle charging station and to outline key next steps if the proposal is approved by the board.

[Translation]

To date, working with our partners at Public Services and Procurement Canada, or PSPC, we are going forward with setting up 21 level 2 electric vehicle charging stations. They will be available to House of Commons Parking Services special permit holders.

Currently, the charging stations are configured so that PSPC covers electricity costs.

[English]

The proposed pay-per-use costing model will be composed of two types of charges.

The first part is related to the cost of charging itself. The second part will begin once the charging period is over and an idling period starts. The idling fee will be time-based and is common in the industry. It aims at incentivizing users to move their vehicle once the charging portion is complete. Its purpose is to ensure fair and equitable use of the charging station shared between all permit holders.

As of today, there are a sufficient number of charging stations in relation to permit holders, but we anticipate the demand to consistently grow in the coming years. Working in partnership with Public Services and Procurement Canada, we continuously monitor the utilization and evaluate the need to add additional charging stations in due time when required.

(1110)

[Translation]

This is what it would look like. A pay-per-use system would be set up to use existing charging stations through a PSPC-managed third-party application. The application would require MPs and their staff to create an account with the provider and connect it to their personal credit card or other payment options on their mobile devices.

House of Commons Parking Services will continue managing the use of electric vehicle charging stations and issuing the cards required for their use within the Parliamentary Precinct.

[English]

The next steps, if approved by the board, are as follows: First, the House administration will work in partnership with Public Services and Procurement Canada to determine proposed pay-per-use rates, which would be brought back to the board for approval prior to implementation.

Second, Public Services and Procurement Canada would reconfigure existing electrical charging stations to support a pay-per-use model and enable the background work required to ensure that the third party application would function properly. This step would not impact the current model in place today, as users would still be able to use a charging station with the card provided.

Third, a trial period would start in May with a small group of existing permit holders from all parties and a limited number of electric charging stations, with feedback and adjustments being made to ensure readiness for a proposed general launch of the pay-per-use model in June 2024.

Finally, a communication plan and the associated support process will be developed to support the general launch.

This concludes my presentation. I would be happy to answer questions and concerns.

[Translation]

Hon. Greg Fergus:

Thank you, Mr. Dicaire.

We will now move on to questions and comments.

Mr. MacKinnon, you have the floor.

Hon. Steven MacKinnon (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons):

We’re in favour of this kind of system, which is fair and where everyone pays. I’m especially pleased with the idling fees. It’s an incentive for people to go disconnect their cars and allow other people to benefit from the same infrastructure. On the Liberal side, this works for us.

Hon. Greg Fergus:

Thank you, Mr. MacKinnon.

Mrs. DeBellefeuille, you have the floor.

Mrs. Claude DeBellefeuille (Whip of the Bloc Québécois):

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We also agree with this proposal, but I’d like to ask a few questions.

Mr. Dicaire, can you explain how you are going to manage the transition?

You told us during your presentation that about 46 MPs have an electric car and there are currently 21 charging stations for those vehicles.

The fact that MPs will have to move their vehicle will certainly be a problem in terms of managing the charging stations. In fact, elected officials are often busy at the House. They may be giving a speech, for example. That means you’re going to have to do a little extra work on management.

To manage this, you’re going to send notifications to MPs that their vehicle is done charging and notify them they have to move it or face additional fees.

Did I understand correctly?

Mr. Benoit Dicaire:

That’s correct, Mrs. DeBellefeuille.

The application will inform the user that the charging period is done and the idling period is starting. That’s when fees start to apply.