Minutes

The Joint Interparliamentary Council met this day at 4:07 p.m. in room 356-S of the Centre Block, the Honourable David Tkachuk, Senator, presiding.

Representing the Senate:  Hon. David Tkachuk, Marie-P. Poulin (for George Furey) and Carolyn Stewart Olsen, Senators.

Representing the House of Commons:  Denise Savoie, Harold Albrecht, Philip Toone, Judy Foote, Randy Hoback and Gordon Brown, MPs.

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: Nicole Proulx, Director of Finance, Finance and Procurement Directorate

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

1. Composition of the JIC:

• three members of the Senate representing the Standing Senate Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration;

2. Approval of Minutes:

On motion of Senator Stewart-Olsen, the minutes of the meeting of March 23, 2011 were approved.

3. Budgets for associations:

The Clerk provided an overview of the current financial status of all associations based on the information provided by each group as part of the September 2011 budget forecasts of association activities for the current fiscal year.

Members of the Council discussed the budget situation of all associations.

After discussion, it was agreed, that associations should continue to operate according to their current budget allocations, and that the JIC would review the budget situation of all associations based on the next forecast, anticipated for November 2011.

4. Decisions taken by Executive Committees by e-mail:

Further to the decision taken by the Council at its meeting of March 23, 2011, it was agreed that, when association executive committees take decisions by e-mail, members may vote yes, no or abstain.

5. Name Change for the Interparliamentary Forum of the Americas (FIPA):

Mr. Hoback informed the Council that, following a strategic review, the Interparliamentary Forum of the Americas had decided to change its name to ParlAmericas.  As such, at its Annual General Meeting of September 27, 2011, the Canadian Section of FIPA approved changes to its constitution to change its name to the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas.

6. 2010-2011 Annual Report on Parliamentary Associations’ Activities and Expenditures:

On behalf of International and Interparliamentary Affairs, the Clerk had the honour to present the second report on Parliamentary Associations’ Activities and Expenditures, related to activities for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

After discussion, it was agreed that the report would be forwarded to the internal economy committees of both Houses and then made publicly available via the International and Interparliamentary Affairs section of the Parliamentary Web site.

7. Other Business:

The Chair informed the Council that a former member of the House of Commons, who was defeated in the general election, had enquired whether he could be reimbursed for association membership fees paid for 2011-2012.

After discussion, it was agreed to ask the former member to make a formal request to the Council and that this request be considered at the next meeting.

The Chair also informed the Council of the status of discussions surrounding the structure of parliamentary associations.  It was agreed to circulate documents, pertaining to the earlier discussions, to members of the Council and to have a discussion on this issue at the next meeting.

At 4:35 p.m., the Council adjourned to the call of the Co-Chairs.

Eric Janse

Clerk