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Board of Internal Economy meeting

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Meeting Minutes

Thursday, December 9, 2021

A meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons was held by videoconference on Thursday, December 9, 2021, at 11:00 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, Dominic LeBlanc, Steven MacKinnon and Ms. Ruby Sahota; 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: Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk, Administration; Philippe Dufresne, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; Eric Janse, Deputy Clerk, Procedure; Ian McDonald, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services; Robert Benoit, Principal Clerk, Committees and Legislative Services; Stéphan Aubé, Chief Information Officer; Michelle Laframboise, Chief Human Resources Officer; Robyn Daigle, Director, Members’ HR and Business Partner Services; Jeffrey LeBlanc, Acting Clerk Assistant, House Proceedings; Suzie Cadieux, Deputy Principal Clerk, Journals Branch, Patrick McDonell, Sergeant-at-Arms; Paul Mellon, Chief of Operations, Corporate Security; Guillaume La Perrière-Marcoux, Secretariat

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The minutes of the meeting of July 23, 2021, were adopted and approved for tabling.


BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

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


SUPPORT FOR INCREASED COMMITTEE ACTIVITY

Ian McDonald, Clerk Assistant, Committees and Legislative Services, presented a request seeking the Board’s approval for temporary resources to support an increase in standing and special committee activities and, with Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk, Administration, and Eric Janse, Deputy Clerk, Procedure, answered questions.

The Board approved temporary funding for five additional full-time equivalents (FTEs) and related costs as follows, excluding employee benefit plans (EBPs), to support Members of Parliament in committees:

• $169,255 for 2021–2022

• $489,238 for 2022–2023

CONFIRMATION OF MANDATE AND COMPOSITION OF THE LTVP WORKING GROUP

Michel Patrice, Deputy Clerk, Administration, presented an information note to the Board to confirm the mandate and composition of the Long-Term Vision and Plan (LTVP) Working Group and answered questions.

The Board confirmed the mandate and composition of the LTPV Working Group. Board members will submit the names of their party’s nominations.


At noon, the meeting was suspended.

At 12:03 p.m., the meeting resumed in camera.


EMPLOYMENT MATTERS

The Board approved a permanent increase of $3,480 (excluding EBPs) to the Page Program budget as of fiscal year 2022–2023, reflecting a 0.5% increase in pages’ annual compensation, and an annual increase to the pages’ base pay by an amount equal to the average increase in residence and tuition fees for programs in which pages are eligible to enrol at the University of Ottawa and at Carleton University. The Board also approved a review of this provision at the end of five years (valid between 2023–2024 and 2027–2028).


SECURITY MATTERS

The Board approved for the permanent funding of the Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) program.

Additionally, the House Administration was given the mandate to explore security services for Members in relation to their parliamentary duties and events outside the parliamentary precinct.


LEGAL MATTERS

The Board discussed a legal matter.


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

Charles Robert
Secretary to the Board of Internal Economy