Minutes

The Joint Interparliamentary Council met this day at 4:30 p.m., in room 356-S of the Centre Block, Ms. Denise Savoie, M.P., presiding.

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

Representing the House of Commons:  Denise Savoie, Harold Albrecht, Hon. Rob Merrifield, Philip Toone, Massimo Pacetti and Gordon Brown, MPs.

Others present: Mike Wallace, MP, Co-Chair of the Canada-Japan Inter-Parliamentary Group.

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: Julie Pilon, 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 Mr. Pacetti, the minutes of the meeting of February 29, 2012 were approved.On motion of Mr. Pacetti, the minutes of the meeting of February 29, 2012 were approved.

2. Association Budgets – Presentation by Canada-Japan:

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 2012-2013 fiscal year, and answered questions from JIC members.

3. Consideration of a Report from the Subcommittee on Restructuring Parliamentary Associations:

Hon. Rob Merrifield presented the report of the Subcommittee on Restructuring Parliamentary Associations.  The Council agreed to examine recommendations concerning potential cost savings at its next meeting and to discuss recommendations concerning the structure of associations later this spring.

At 4:45 pm, the Council proceeded to sit in camera.

4. Budget Allocation:

The Clerk provided an overview of the budgetary requests from associations for the 2012-2013 fiscal year.  In light of votes in the House of Commons, the Council agreed to grant an initial allocation to each association and to consider final allocations at a subsequent meeting in light of the recommendations of the Subcommittee on Restructuring Associations.

On motion of Mr. Albrecht, it was agreed that the following initial amounts be provided to associations for the 2012-2013 fiscal year:

5. Varia:

The Chair outlined a request received from Mr. Daryl Kramp, Co-Chair of the Canada-China Legislative Association (CCLA), to be exempted from the rules concerning eligibility for business class travel during the Association’s upcoming bilateral visit to China.  On motion of Senator Tkachuk, it was agreed, that Mr. Kramp be allowed to travel in business class on flights of less than 9 hours during the CCLA’s next bilateral visit to China.

At 4:51 p.m., the Council adjourned to the call of the Co-Chairs.

Eric Janse

Clerk