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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Thursday, November 28, 2024

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy (Board) of the House of Commons was held on Thursday, November 28, 2024, at 11:05 a.m., in room 225 A, West Block.

In the Chair: The Honourable Greg Fergus, Speaker of the House of Commons

Present: The Honourables Mona Fortier, Karina Gould, Ruby Sahota, and Andrew Scheer; Ms. Claude DeBellefeuille and Mr. Peter Julian

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

Also Present: Paul St George, Chief Financial Officer; José Fernandez, Deputy Chief Financial Officer; Robin Kells, Senior Director, Corporate Procurement and Asset Management Services; Benoit Dicaire, Chief Information Officer; Carolyne Evangelidis, Chief Human Resources Officer; Isabelle Breton, Senior Director, Employee and Client Experience; Darren Webster, Deputy Director, Talent Attraction and Classification; Patrick McDonell, Sergeant-at-Arms; Paul Mellon, Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms; Michelle Tittley, Director, Security Project Management and Technical Operations; Stéphan Aubé, Chief Executive Administrator; Michel Bédard, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Jeffrey LeBlanc, Deputy Clerk, Procedure; Natacha Flanagan, Secretariat

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The minutes of the meeting of November 7, 2024, were approved for tabling.


BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

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


ELECTORAL DISTRICT REDISTRIBUTION AND BOUNDARIES READJUSTMENT

Paul St George, Chief Financial Officer, supported by José Fernandez, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, and Robin Kells, Senior Director, Corporate Procurement and Asset Management Services, provided information on the impacts of the electoral district redistribution and boundaries readjustment (EBR) on Members’ resources, and answered questions.


The Board approved the following:

• Assignment of assets and offices in constituencies in the context of the current and future EBRs

a) When a Member is re-elected and their constituency office(s) are no longer in their constituency, they must obtain written consent to keep operating their office(s) in the current location within 60 calendar days following the general election.

b) When a Member is re-elected and their constituency office(s) are no longer in their constituency, the House assets follow the Member.

c) When a Member is re-elected and their constituency office(s) are no longer in their constituency, they may charge the following expenses to a House Administration central budget if the expenses are incurred within 180 days following the general election:

• costs for moving and storage services and setting up offices and equipment (e.g. phone, Internet services);

• lease termination costs equivalent to a maximum of four months’ rent; and

• costs for the removal, replacement and/or disposal of fixed office signage.

d) New and re-elected Members inheriting extra constituency offices and House assets may refuse to keep them, in which case the corresponding lease termination and asset divestment costs will be charged to a House Administration central budget.

e) Newly elected Members with no assets to inherit can purchase standard furniture and equipment to furnish their constituency office(s) as a charge against a House Administration central budget, up to $38,000 per Member.

f) During the 12 months following the general election, reasonable expenses related to the following will be covered by a House Administration central budget:

• removal, equivalent replacement, and/or disposal of assets and items bearing the former name of the constituency (e.g. signage, event banners, portable event shelters, promotional items); replacement costs include design and production; and

• shredding services in constituencies for documents bearing the former name of the constituency.

g) The Clerk of the House of Commons is authorized, for a period of six months following the next general election, to make temporary exceptions to Board by-laws and policies to address unforeseen situations, provided these exceptions do not result in additional funding and the Clerk reports periodically to the Board on these exceptions.

• Additional funding requirements resulting from the upcoming EBR

h) The temporary costs of $2,776,608, excluding employee benefit plans (EBPs) in the amount of $18,106, to be funded within existing budgets. If additional funding is required, the House Administration will seek support through the Supplementary Estimates.

i) The permanent costs of $4,821,857, excluding EBPs in the amount of $314,479, to be funded through the 2025–2026 Main Estimates. These amounts may be adjusted depending on the date of the general election and may result in a reduction of the Supplementary Estimates.


The Board also agreed that, at a future meeting, the House Administration would present recommendations respecting supplement(s) to the Member’s Office Budget.


CONSTITUENCY OFFICE TECHNOLOGY LIFECYCLE

Benoit Dicaire, Chief Information Officer, supported by Paul St George, Chief Financial Officer, informed the Board of the state of the existing network, compute, print, and telephony technologies in constituencies and provided an update on a program that was established to coordinate the refresh of core technologies and disposal of legacy assets post-election.


The Board approved the following one-time costs and funding strategy to facilitate the lifecycling of these technologies:

• Fiscal year 2024–2025: $4,971,584 for central budgets

• Fiscal year 2025–2026: $8,650,655, which includes $1,555,925 for the House Administration and $7,094,730 for central budgets

• Fiscal year 2026–2027: $3,219,992, which includes $1,154,453 for the House Administration and $2,065,539 for central budgets

• Fiscal year 2027–2028 and subsequent years: $898,625 for central budgets

It was also agreed that the House Administration would

• manage temporary costs within existing budgets and seek any additional required funding through the Supplementary Estimates;

• return to the Board to present future equipment lifecycling requirements at the next general election cycle; and

• present any policy-related changes associated with these service lifecycle activities to the Board at a later date.


At 12:33 p.m. the meeting was suspended.

At 12:34 p.m., the sitting resumed in camera.


SECURITY MATTERS

The Board agreed to the permanent implementation of additional security measures for Members who are leaders of recognized political parties, with permanent funding for central budgets for Members in the amount of $974,008, to be included in the 2025–2026 Main Estimates.


IMPLEMENTATION OF PAY EQUITY PLAN

The Board approved funding to cover salary adjustments with interest for House Administration employees, as required by the Pay Equity Act . The funding will be reflected in the Supplementary Estimates of the fiscal year when the plan is finalized and in the Main Estimates of the next fiscal year.


The meeting was adjourned.

Eric Janse
Secretary to the Board of Internal Economy