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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Thursday, May 12, 2022

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons was held on Thursday, May 12, 2022, 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 and Steven MacKinnon; Ms. Ruby Sahota; Mr. John Brassard, Mr. Blaine Calkins, 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; Eric Janse, Deputy Clerk, Procedure; Philippe Dufresne, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Ian McDonald, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate; Scott Lemoine, Principal Clerk, Committees; Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer; Michelle Laframboise, Chief Human Resources Officer; Jeremy LeBlanc, Clerk Assistant and Director General, International and Interparliamentary Affairs; and Michelle Tittley, Secretariat

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The minutes of the meeting of March 3, 2022, were approved for tabling.


BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The Board took note of correspondence distributed since its last meeting and reviewed information they had requested about virtual committee meetings.

The Board requested that the Administration provide additional information in the next committees’ dashboard.


RATIFICATION OF A WALKAROUND

The Board ratified the decision taken on March 11, 2022, to grant an exception to the pandemic preventative measures during the address delivered in the House of Commons Chamber by the President of Ukraine before Members and Senators on Tuesday, March 15, 2022, to permit those speaking during the event to do so without a mask and to allow guests in the galleries and on the floor of the House.


INTERIM BUDGETS FOR THE SPECIAL JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY AND THE SPECIAL JOINT COMMITTEE ON MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IN DYING

Ian McDonald, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services Directorate, and Scott Lemoine, Principal Clerk, Committees, presented a proposal to obtain funding for the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency and the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying.

The Board approved an interim budget of $50,000 for each of the two special joint committees. In each case, the funding is to be shared using the usual formula between the Senate (30%, i.e. $15,000) and the House of Commons (70%, i.e. $35,000), and the House’s portion is to be allocated from the 2021–2022 and/or 2022–2023 global budget envelope for standing committees.


COMPOSITION OF THE JOINT INTERPARLIAMENTARY COUNCIL

Jeremy LeBlanc, Clerk Assistant and Director General, International and Interparliamentary Affairs, presented a request from the Senate Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration (CIBA), to amend the composition of the Joint Interparliamentary Council (JIC).

The Board agreed to change to the composition of the JIC, which allows for representation of all recognized parliamentary caucuses and groups, while maintaining the usual 30% 70% split between the Senate and the House of Commons, as follows:

• One member of each recognized party or parliamentary group in the Senate, but no fewer than three Senators, appointed by the Standing Senate Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration, one of whom will be appointed by that committee to serve as the Senate Co-Chair; and

• Members of the House of Commons appointed by the Speaker in such numbers as is necessary to reflect the 30%-70% split between the two houses, consisting of:

o a Chair occupant, who will serve as the House of Commons Co-Chair;

o the Whip of each recognized party or their designate;

o representatives of Association Chairs and/or Vice-Chairs and/or the Board of Internal Economy, appointed to reflect the relative party standings in the House.


At 11:37 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 11:40 a.m., the sitting resumed in camera.


EXTERNAL RESOURCES

The Board discussed services in support of Members of Parliament.


The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m..

Charles Robert
Secretary to the Board of Internal Economy