Minutes

The Joint Interparliamentary Council met this day at 3:31 p.m., in room 356‑S of the Centre Block, Mr. Joe Comartin, MP, presiding.

Representing the Senate:  Hon. David Tkachuk, Marjory LeBreton, and Jim Munson, Senators.

Representing the House of Commons:  Joe Comartin, Dave Mackenzie, Sadia Groguhé and Frank Valeriote, MPs.

Others present:

Chairs and Co-Chairs of Parliamentary Associations:

Wai Young, MP (Canada-China); and

Mike Wallace, MP (Canada-Japan).

In attendance:

From the International and Interparliamentary Affairs Directorate: Natalie Foster, Deputy Principal Clerk, Parliamentary Associations; Gérald Lafrenière, Deputy Principal Clerk, Parliamentary Exchanges; Marie-Andrée Rainville, Manager, Resource Planning and Administration; Elizabeth Rody, Chief of Protocol and Director of Events; and Astrid Ratzel, Logistics and Protocol Coordinator.

From the Senate: Sloan Mask, Financial Advisor, Planning and Corporate Reporting, Finance and Procurement Directorate.

From the House of Commons: Naim Bellemare, Senior Financial Advisor, Policy and Financial Planning.

1. Approval of Minutes:

On motion of Mr. Mackenzie, the minutes of the meeting of April 2, 2014 were approved.

2. Conferences: 24th Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum:

Wai Young, MP, Co-Chair of the Canada-China Legislative Association, and Mike Wallace, MP, Co-Chair of the Canada-Japan Inter-Parliamentary Group, presented a request for Canada to host the 24th Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum in Vancouver in January 2016 and answered questions from JIC members.

After discussion, on motion of Mr. Mackenzie, it was agreed,

That the 24th Annual Meeting of the APPF be held in Vancouver, Canada in January of 2016, and that, appropriate funding be sought from the Standing Senate Committee on Internal Economy and the House of Commons Board of Internal Economy;

That temporary funding of $242,720 for financial year 2014-2015 and $1,090,735 for financial year 2015-2016 be approved for a total of $1,333,455 which would be shared using the usual formula (30% Senate, 70% House of Commons) between the Senate ($400,036.50) and the House of Commons ($933,418.50); and

That any remaining funds from financial year 2014-2015 be carried over to financial year 2015-2016.

3. Budgets 2014-2015:

The Chair drew to the attention of the Council a letter received from the Chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to request additional funds for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

After discussion, it was agreed that the request be considered at a subsequent meeting of the Council.

4. International and Interparliamentary Affairs Directorate:

The Clerk drew to the attention of the Council an information note prepared by the International and Interparliamentary Affairs Directorate regarding administrative support provided to Parliamentary Associations.

At 4:12 p.m., the Council adjourned to the call of the Co-Chairs.

Eric Janse

Clerk