Minutes

The Joint Interparliamentary Council met this day at 4:04 p.m., in room 356 S of the Centre Block, Mr. Joe Comartin, MP, presiding.

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

Representing the House of Commons:  Joe Comartin, Dave Mackenzie, Hon. Rob Merrifield, Philip Toone, Massimo Pacetti, Randy Hoback and Gordon Brown, MPs.

Others present:

Chairs and Executive Committee Members of Parliamentary Associations:
Hon. Andrée Champagne, Senator (APF);
Hon. Pierre Claude Nolin, Senator (NATO PA);
David Tilson and Dean Allison, MPs (Canada-Europe & OSCE); and
Hon. Claudette Tardif, Senator (Canada-France).

In attendance:

From the International and Interparliamentary Affairs Directorate: Jeremy LeBlanc, Deputy Principal Clerk, Parliamentary Associations; Gérald Lafrenière, Deputy Principal Clerk, Parliamentary Exchanges; and Marie-Andrée Rainville, Manager, Resource Planning and Administration.

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

Note: Due to a vote in the House of Commons, Hon. Andrée Champagne, Senator, Chair of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), 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 present prior to a quorum being reached to begin this meeting.

Hon. Pierre Claude Nolin, Senator, Counsellor of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association (NATO PA) 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.

David Tilson, MP, Chair of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association, and 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 2013-2014 fiscal year, and answered questions from JIC members.

Hon. Claudette Tardif, Senator, Chair of the Canada-France Interparliamentary 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.

2. Approval of Minutes:

On motion of Mr. Brown, the minutes of the meeting of February 27, 2013 were approved.

3. Budgets 2013-2014:

a) APF – Start-up funds

Further to the request considered at the last meeting of the Council, after discussion, it was agreed to grant the Canadian Section of the APF an initial allocation of $30,000 for the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

b) Budget allocation for the upcoming year

The Clerk provided an overview of a package containing information concerning budget requests, allocations and expenditures in previous fiscal years, as well as a number of options for the potential distribution of available funds. It was agreed to consider final allocations at the next meeting of the Council.

At 4:52 p.m., the Council adjourned to the call of the Co-Chairs.

Eric Janse

Clerk