The Joint
Interparliamentary Council met this day at 3:30 p.m., in camera, in
room 356‑S of the Centre Block, the Honourable
David Tkachuk, Senator,presiding.
Representing
the Senate:
Hon. David Tkachuk, Marjory LeBreton, and Jim Munson, Senators.
Representing
the House of Commons: Joe Comartin, Dave Mackenzie,
Hon. Rob Merrifield, Sadia Groguhé, Frank Valeriote and
Gordon Brown, MPs.
In attendance:
From the
International and Interparliamentary Affairs Directorate:
Natalie Foster, Deputy Principal Clerk, Parliamentary Associations;
Gérald Lafrenière, Deputy Principal Clerk, Parliamentary Exchanges; and
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.
1.Approval of Minutes
On motion of Mr. Mackenzie, the minutes
of the meeting of March 5, 2014, were approved.
2.Budgets 2014-2015
The Chair provided an overview of an
option for the potential distribution of available funds to the various
parliamentary associations. A discussion ensued.
At 3:55 p.m, the meeting was suspended.
At 5:01 p.m., the meeting resumed.
After debate, it was agreed that the
operational budgets for each association in
2014-2015 be as follows:
Association
Allocated Funding
Canada-United-States
$290,000
ParlAmericas
150,000
Canada-Europe
256,250
OSCE
142,500
Canada-France
80,750
Canada-United Kingdom
80,750
Canada-Japan
185,000
Canada-China
185,000
Canada-Africa
225,000
APF
125,000
CPA
120,000
IPU
138,758
NATO
232,500
Total
$ 2,211,508
3.Staff accompanying delegations of single parliamentarians
The Chair drew to the Council’s
attention a letter received from the Chair of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée
parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) regarding three requests to have a
single parliamentarian accompanied by a staff member on an outgoing activity.
The requests concerned the meetings of the
Parliamentary Affairs Committee, the Cooperation and Development Committee and
the Political Committee of the APF being held in Vietnam, Togo and Gabon,
respectively, in April 2014. The Co-Chairs had agreed
to all three requests, having evaluated the nature of each activity and the
limited support that would be provided to the parliamentarians upon arrival at
the meetings.
It was agreed that the decision of the
Co-Chairs be ratified.
The Council resumed consideration of
the request of the APF to review the JIC’s decision that
states ‘That no staff member accompany delegations composed of a single
parliamentarian unless the JIC has granted approval following a request from a
given association’.
After debate, on motion of Ms. Groguhé,
it was agreed that, in considering requests for exemption to the rule that no
staff member accompany delegations composed of a single parliamentarian, the
JIC will agree to such requests in the future if the following criteria have
been met: the parliamentarian is travelling alone as a delegation of one, there
will be no support for the individual upon arrival at the meeting or conference
in question, and the activity is taking place outside of Canada.
4.Other Business
The Clerk drew to the Council’s attention the adoption of a motion by the
Executive Committee of the Canada-United-States Inter-Parliamentary Group to
allow the Marine Chamber of Commerce to host a reception during the Annual
Meeting of the Group. The participation of a third-party
group in the activities of an Association and the wording of section 3.3 of the
Financial Management and Policy Guide for Parliamentary Associations was
raised.
After debate, it was agreed that the
reception could take place, provided that the Association does not provide any
support to the event, including sending invitations or promoting the reception
as part of the official program for the Annual Meeting.
At 5:30 p.m., the Council adjourned to
the call of the Co-Chairs.
