Minutes

The Joint Interparliamentary Council met this day at 3:34 p.m., in room 356‑S of the Centre Block, Mr. Joe Comartin, M.P., presiding.

Representing the Senate:  Hon. David Tkachuk and Hon. Carolyn Stewart Olsen, Senators

Representing the House of Commons:  Joe Comartin, Gordon Brown, Randy Hoback, Dave Mackenzie, Philip Toone, MPs.

Others present:

Chairs and Co-Chairs of Parliamentary Associations:
Hon. Mauril Bélanger, MP; Hon. Raynell Andreychuk, Senator (Canada-Africa) and
Hon. Janis G. Johnson, Senator (Canada-US).

In attendance:

From the International and Interparliamentary Affairs Directorate: Jeremy LeBlanc, Deputy Principal Clerk, Parliamentary Associations; and Gérald Lafrenière, Deputy Principal Clerk, Parliamentary Exchanges.

From the Senate: Naaz Askari, A/Manager, Financial Policy, Planning and Corporate Reporting, Finance and Procurement Directorate.

From the House of Commons: Gilles Larocque, Senior Financial Advisor, Policy and Financial Planning.

1. Approval of Minutes:

On motion of Senator Tkachuk, the minutes of the meeting of December 5, 2012 were approved

2. Schedule of Future JIC Meetings:

Due to scheduling conflicts for certain members, the Council revisited the question of when to hold its meetings.  After discussion, it was agreed to maintain the Wednesday afternoon timeslot except for meetings held prior to the Christmas or summer adjournments when procedural votes in the House of Commons are more likely to interrupt the proceedings.

3. Supplementary Budget Request (IPU) – Decision Taken by Electronic Means:

Further to the discussion at the meeting of December 5, 2012, the President of the Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was to have made a presentation to the Council on December 12.  As a quorum was not reached for this meeting, the presentation was given to the members who were in attendance and a motion was sent electronically to all members of the Council later that day.

By electronic means, it was agreed by a vote of 7-0 that the Canadian Group of the IPU be granted an additional $66,659 in order to fund its participation in the 128th Assembly of the IPU in Quito, Ecuador.

During and following the electronic exchanges on this motion, Mr. Pacetti raised the issue of the composition of the delegation that would attend the IPU Assembly.  The Council agreed to defer further discussion on the composition of delegations to a future meeting.

4. APF – Travel by Delegations Composed of a Single Parliamentarian:

The Chair of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) wrote to the Co-Chairs requesting that the Branch be given a blanket exemption to the rule that prevents staff from accompanying delegations composed of a single parliamentarian.

After discussion, it was agreed that no blanket exemption be given, but that the Co-Chairs write to the Chair of the Canadian Branch of the APF asking her to provide further justification for specific activities where she feels an exemption would be warranted.  The Council would consider such requests on a case-by-case basis.

5. Association Budgets – Presentations by Association Chairs/Co-Chairs:

Hon. Mauril Bélanger, MP, and Hon. Raynell Andreychuk, Senator, Co-Chairs of the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association, presented the work and planned activities of the association, as well as their related budget request for the 2013-2014 fiscal year, and answered questions from JIC members.

Hon. Janis G. Johnson, Senator, and Gordon Brown, MP, Co-Chairs of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group, presented the work and planned activities of the association, as well as their related budget request for the 2013-2014 fiscal year, and answered questions from JIC members.

6. Other Business:

The Clerk of the JIC provided an overview of the current financial status of all associations based on expenditures to date and noted that no requests for supplementary funds were expected for the remainder of the fiscal year.

The Clerk also asked if the Council wished to follow a practice adopted in previous years whereby all associations would be provided with an initial allocation to allow them to finance activities early in the new fiscal year prior to the JIC making a final determination.  After discussion, it was agreed to ask associations requiring an initial allocation to make an application to the Council outlining the reasons for their request.

At 4:30 p.m., the Council adjourned to the call of the Co-Chairs.

Eric Janse

Clerk