The Joint Interparliamentary Council met
this day at 4:00 p.m., in room 356‑S of the Centre Block,
Mr. Andrew Scheer, M.P., presiding.
Representing the Senate: Carolyn Stewart Olsen,
Senator.
Representing the House of Commons: Andrew Scheer, Harold Albrecht,
Marcel Proulx, Mario Laframboise, Chris Charlton and Leon Benoit
MPs.
Others present: Chairs and Co-Chairs of Parliamentary
Associations: Hon. David Tilson, MP, (Canada-Europe); Hon.
Consiglio Di Nino, Senator, (OSCE PA); Hon. Bryon Wilfert, MP,
(Canada-Japan); Leon Benoit, MP, (NATO); Janis Johnson, Senator, (Canada‑United
States); Donald Oliver, Senator, (IPU); and Hon. Claudette Tardif,
Senator, (Canada‑France).
Other Parliamentary Association
Executive Committee members present: Massimo Pacetti, MP (Canada-Europe); and Mike
Wallace, MP, (Canada-Japan).
In attendance: From the International and Interparliamentary
Affairs Directorate:
Ian McDonald, Deputy Principal Clerk, Parliamentary Associations;
Gérald Lafrenière, Deputy Principal Clerk, Parliamentary Exchanges; and
Marie-Andrée Rainville, Manager, Finance and Administration.
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. Laframboise, the minutes
of the meeting of March 2, 2011 were approved.
2.Association Budgets – Presentations by Association
Chairs/Co-Chairs
David Tilson, MP, Chair of the
Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association, and Massimo Pacetti, member of
the Executive Committee, presented the work and planned activities of the
association, as well as their related budget request for the 2011‑2012
fiscal year, and answered questions from members of the JIC.
Hon. Consiglio Di Nino, Senator,
Director, Canadian Delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation
in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), presented the work and planned
activities of the Canadian Delegation to the OSCE PA, as well as their related
budget request for the 2011‑2012 fiscal year, and answered questions from
members of the JIC.
Hon. Bryon Wilfert, MP, Co-Chair of
the Canada-Japan Inter-Parliamentary Group, and Mike Wallace, member of the
Executive Committee, presented the work and planned activities of the
association, as well as their related budget request for the 2011‑2012
fiscal year, and answered questions from members of the JIC.
Leon Benoit, MP, Chair 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 2011‑2012
fiscal year, and answered questions from members of the JIC.
Hon. Janis 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 2011‑2012 fiscal year, and answered questions from members
of the JIC.
Hon. Donald Oliver, Senator, President of
the Canadian Group of the Inter‑Parliamentary Union (IPU), presented the
work and planned activities of the association, as well as their related budget
request for the 2011‑2012 fiscal year, and answered questions from
members of the JIC.
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 2011‑2012 fiscal year, and answered questions from members of the
JIC.
The Council agreed to further consider the
budget requests of all Parliamentary Associations at the next meeting to be
scheduled for March 23, 2011.
The Council agreed, in advance of further
consideration with regards to the budget at the JIC meeting of March 23,
2011, that 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.
3.Timing of Annual General Meetings
The Council considered the question of the
timing of annual general meetings and maintained an earlier decision from
November 2010 that associations wait until April 11, 2011 before they
hold their AGMs and that all AGMs be concluded before the end of May 2011
and directed the Clerk to prepare a letter for the signature of the Council’s
Co‑Chairs for those associations that have not yet planned their AGM
during this period.
At 5:30
p.m., the Council adjourned to the call of the Co-Chairs.