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: Marjory LeBreton, Norman E. Doyle for David Tkachuk and Jim Munson, Senators.

Representing the House of Commons: Joe Comartin, Dave Mackenzie, Hon. Ron Cannan, Sadia Groguhé, Randy Hoback and Gordon Brown, MPs.

Others present:

Chairs and Co-Chairs of Parliamentary Associations:
Ms. Cheryl Gallant, M.P., Chair of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association;
Mr. Joe Preston, M.P., Chair of the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA);
Hon. Paul E. McIntyre, Q.C., Senator, International President of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF);
Mr. Bernard Trottier, M.P., Acting Chair of the Canadian Branch of the APF;
Mr. Robert Aubin, M.P., Vice-President of the Canadian Branch of the APF;
Mr. David Tilson, M.P., President of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association;
Mr. Dean Allison, M.P., Director of the Canadian Delegation to the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA);
Hon. Janis G. Johnson, Senator, Co-Chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group;
Mr. Mike Wallace, M.P., Co-Chair of the Canada-Japan Inter-Parliamentary Group;
Ms. Wai Young, M.P., Co-Chair of the Canada-China Legislative Association.

In attendance:

From the International and Interparliamentary Affairs Directorate: Patrice Martin, Deputy Principal Clerk, Parliamentary Associations; Marie-Andrée Rainville, Manager, Resource Planning and Administration.

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.

Approval of Minutes:

On motion of Sadia Groguhé, the minutes of the meeting of February 18, 2015 were approved.

2. Associations Budgets (2015-2016) – Presentations by Association Chairs/Co-Chairs:

Cheryl Gallant, MP, Chair of Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association (NATO PA), presented the work and planned activities of the association, as well as their related budget request for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, and answered questions from JIC members.

Joe Preston, MP, Chair of the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), presented the work and planned activities of the association, as well as their related budget request for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, and answered questions from JIC members.

Hon. Paul E. McIntyre, Senator, International President of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), Mr. Bernard Trottier, M.P., Acting Chair of the Canadian Branch of the APF and Mr. Robert Aubin, M.P., Vice-President of the Canadian Branch of the APF, presented the work and planned activities of the association, as well as their related budget request for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, and answered questions from JIC members.

David Tilson, MP, Chair of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association, presented the work and planned activities of the association, as well as their related budget requests for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, and answered questions from JIC members.

Dean Allison, MP, Director for the Canadian Delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) presented the work and planned activities of the association, as well as their related budget requests for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, and answered questions from JIC members.

Hon. Janis G. Johnson, Senator, Co-Chair 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 2015-2016 fiscal year, and answered questions from JIC members.

At 4:45 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 4:55 p.m., the meeting resumed.

Mike Wallace, MP, Co-Chair of the Canada-Japan Inter-Parliamentary Group, presented the work and planned activities of the association, as well as their related budget request for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, and answered questions from JIC members.

Wai Young, M.P., Co-Chair of the Canada-China Legislative Association, presented the work and planned activities of the association, as well as their related budget request for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, and answered questions from JIC members.

3. Other Business:

After debate, on motion of Randy Hoback, it was agreed, that, in advance of further consideration with regards to the budget at the JIC meeting of March 25, 2015, there be an allotment of $50,000 to each association in order to meet expenses related to activities coming up early in the new fiscal year, such as, but not limited to, airline tickets or hotel bookings, which often benefit from advanced purchase in order to reduce costs related to association activities.

At 5:10 p.m., the Council adjourned to the call of the Co-Chairs.

Eric Janse

Clerk