Proceedings of the Standing Committee on
Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration
Issue 3 - Eighteenth Report of the Committee
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
The Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration has the honour to present its
EIGHTEENTH REPORT
Your Committee recommends that the Senate adopt the amendments to the Senate Administrative Rules attached to this Report as Appendix A.
Respectfully submitted,
GEORGE J. FUREY
Chair
Appendix A
SENATE ADMINISTRATIVE RULES
AMENDMENTS — JUNE 20, 2007
The Committee recommends to the Senate that the Senate Administrative Rules be amended as follows:
(a) in chapter 2:06, by adding a new subsection 9(4) as follows:
"(4) No person shall gather or attempt to gather unpublished information about an identifiable Senator or member of staff that is described in the definition "personal information'' in section 3 of the Privacy Act, except as expressly authorized by the Senate, a committee of the Senate, an individual Senator or the Clerk of the Senate.'';
(b) in chapter 3:04, by replacing section 9 with the following:
"9. The Committee shall set by finance rule the amount or amounts above which proposed acquisitions of goods and services with Senate funds must be made by tender in cases where the Committee has not approved acquisition without tender.'';
(c) in chapter 4:02,
(i) by replacing section 4 with the following:
"4. (1) Expenses incurred under section 2 must be incurred within two years of the departure of the Senator.
(2) Nothing in sections 1 and 2 derogates from the obligation that the Constitution of Canada imposes on a Senator to reside in the province or territory the Senator represents.'', and
(ii) by replacing section 11 with the following:
"11. A Senator and the Senator's spouse or common-law partner are entitled to receive training in Canada in an official language of Canada that is not their first language.'';
(d) in chapter 4:03,
(i) by replacing sections 4 and 5 with the following:
"4. A Senator is entitled to 64 travel points per fiscal year for the combined travel of the Senator and the Senator's alternates.
5. (1) One point shall be deducted from a Senator's travel points for each four-day period, or portion thereof, of a return national trip or of a return trip to Washington, D.C., U.S.A., undertaken under section 13.1.
(2) One half of one point shall be deducted from a Senator's travel points for each four-day period, or portion thereof, of a one-way national trip.'',
(ii) by replacing section 11 with the following:
"11. (1) A traveller is entitled to claim the following in respect of accommodation expenses:
(a) reimbursement for the receipted cost of hotel or other commercial accommodation incurred by the traveller, up to the maximum daily amount set by finance rule; or
(b) an allowance in respect of private accommodation used by the traveller in an amount set by finance rule.
(2) A traveller is entitled to claim reimbursement for the receipted cost of hotel or other commercial accommodation incurred by the traveller in an amount that exceeds the maximum daily amount set by finance rule if
(a) the cost is reasonable in the circumstances, taking into account factors such as location, seasonal variations and availability; and
(b) the claim is accompanied by a written statement of the traveller setting out the reasons for the cost.
(3) A traveller is entitled to claim an allowance for meal and incidental expenses incurred by the traveller, in the amount or amounts set by finance rule.
(4) No traveller shall claim the relevant portion of the allowance for meal and incidental expenses under subsection (3) in respect of
(a) an adequate meal consumed by the traveller that was provided as part of another item, such as a conference fee, paid for or reimbursed from federal public funds; or
(b) in the case of a partial travel day, a meal consumed by the traveller before commencing, or after completing, the trip.
(5) This section does not apply to a traveller in the traveller's home community.
(6) Subject to section 17, this section does not apply to a Senator or member of the Senator's family or household in the National Capital Region.'',
(iii) by replacing section 12 of the English version with the following:
"12. A traveller is entitled to claim reimbursement for the cost of ground transportation at the rates set by finance rule.'',
(iv) by replacing section 13 with the following:
"International Travel
13. Subject to section 13.1, no international trip may be undertaken under this chapter except as approved by the Internal Economy Committee, and subject to such terms and conditions as are approved by it.
13.1 (1) A Senator is entitled to make, for the purpose of carrying out the Senator's parliamentary functions, four return trips per fiscal year from anywhere in Canada to Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
(2) Travel may be undertaken under this section only by the Senator.
(3) Travel under this section may not include stopovers outside of Canada other than for the purpose of facilitating economical and convenient transit to the destination.
(4) Sections 11 and 12 apply to travel under this section.'',
(v) by replacing section 15 with the following:
"15. A Senator on travel status in the National Capital Region is entitled to claim the following in respect of accommodation expenses:
(a) reimbursement for the receipted cost of hotel or other commercial accommodation incurred by the Senator, up to the maximum daily amount set by finance rule;
(b) reimbursement for the receipted cost of rented or leased accommodation incurred by the Senator; or
(c) an allowance in respect of private accommodation used by the Senator in an amount set by finance rule.'',
(vi) by replacing section 16 with the following:
"16. (1) A Senator on travel status in the National Capital Region is entitled to claim an allowance for meal and incidental expenses incurred by the Senator, in the amount or amounts set by finance rule.
(2) No Senator shall claim the relevant portion of the allowance for meal and incidental expenses under subsection (1) in respect of an adequate meal consumed by the Senator that was provided as part of another item, such as a conference fee, paid for or reimbursed from federal public funds.'',
(vii) by replacing section 17 with the following:
"17. An allowance for meal and incidental expenses incurred by a Senator who is on travel status for a day of arrival in or departure from the National Capital Region may be claimed under section 11, but may not be claimed under section 16.'', and
(viii) by deleting subsection 18(2) and renumbering subsection 18(1) as section 18;
(e) in chapter 4:04, by adding after section 14 the following:
"15. A Senator may charge legal research expenses to the Senator's office budget, but may not charge expenses for legal representation or for settlements or judgments.
Legal Assistance
and Indemnification
16. The Internal Economy Committee shall adopt a policy to provide Senators with legal assistance and indemnification in appropriate circumstances.'';
(f) in chapter 5:02,
(i) by replacing section 4 with the following:
"4. The Speaker of the Senate is entitled to additional staff to be paid out of the additional office allowance provided under section 5.'',
(ii) by replacing section 9 with the following:
"9. The Leader of the Government in the Senate is entitled to additional staff to be paid out of the additional office allowance provided under section 10.'',
(iii) by replacing section 13 with the following:
"13. The Leader of the Opposition in the Senate is entitled to additional staff to be paid out of the additional office allowance provided under section 14.'',
(iv) by replacing section 18 with the following:
"18. The Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate is entitled to additional staff to be paid out of the additional office allowance provided under section 19.'',
(v) by replacing section 22 with the following:
"22. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate is entitled to additional staff to be paid out of the additional office allowance provided under section 23.'',
(vi) by replacing section 26 with the following:
"26. The Government Whip in the Senate is entitled to additional staff to be paid out of the additional office allowance provided under section 27.'', and
(vii) by replacing section 30 with the following:
"30. The Opposition Whip in the Senate is entitled to additional staff to be paid out of the additional office allowance provided under section 31.'';
(g) in chapter 5:04, by replacing section 6 with the following:
"6. The Senate may provide research funds to caucuses and additional research funds to individual Senators who are not members of a caucus, subject to such terms as may be set by the Internal Economy Committee, in an amount or amounts set by finance rule.''; and
(h) by replacing chapter 6:01 with chapter 6:01 as attached.