Proceedings of the Standing Committee on
Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration
Issue 2 - Minutes of Proceedings - March 27, 2014
OTTAWA, Thursday, March 27, 2014
(10)
The Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration met this day, at 9 a.m., in room 160-S, Centre Block, the chair, the Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, presiding.
Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Campbell, Cordy, Downe, Doyle, Fraser, Furey, Johnson, Kinsella, Lang, LeBreton, P.C., Marshall, Munson, Seth, Smith (Saurel), Tkachuk and White. (16)
Other senator in attendance: The Honourable Senator Charette-Poulin. (1)
Also in attendance: Mr. Gary W. O'Brien, Clerk of the Senate, and other senior Senate officials.
CIBA/2014-03-27/055(P) — Third Report of the Subcommittee on Committee Budgets
The Chair of the Subcommittee on Committee Budgets, the Honourable Senator Smith, presented the third report of the subcommittee as follows:
Thursday, March 27, 2014
The Subcommittee on Committee Budgets of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration has the honour to present its
THIRD REPORT
Your Subcommittee is aware of an increased demand for transparency regarding Senate expenses. The Rules of the Senate (12-26) and the Senate Administrative Rules (3:06, 11) require that committees report their expenses on a sessional basis. These reports are tabled in the Senate within the first 15 sitting days of each session. The Committees Directorate Annual Report also includes information regarding committee expenses, broken down into three broad categories for each activity — Professional and Other Services; Transportation, Accommodation and Living Expenses; and All Other Expenditures. Increasingly, requests are being received from the public, in particular the media, for a more detailed breakdown of these expenditures.
Before incurring expenses, committees must obtain Senate approval of their budgets. Committee budgets are published in the Journals and include a line-by-line breakdown of the requested funds. Budgets which include travel generally request sufficient funds for all members of the committee to participate, although in most cases, a reduced delegation actually does. This means that budget requests are usually much higher than the actual expenditures. Any surplus funds from an activity are clawed-back and can be made available for allocation to committees for other activities.
The actual cost of committee trips is included in the sessional reports and in the Committees Directorate Annual Report. These are public documents, available on the parliamentary website. However, the level of detail that is provided in these reports is much less than what is included in the published budgets, and there is often a significant time lag between the completion of the trip and the reporting of actual expenditures.
Post-activity reports are prepared by the Finance and Procurement Directorate, which include a breakdown of the amount requested for each line object in the budget, along with the corresponding actual expenditure. Committee clerks provide an explanation for any significant variance between these amounts. These reports are reviewed by the subcommittee of the Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration responsible for committee budgets. To date, these reports have not been made public.
In order to increase the public's understanding of committee budgets and expenditures, your subcommittee recommends:
That starting in the 41.2 parliamentary session, post-activity expenditure reports be tabled with the Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration by the subcommittee responsible for committee budgets at least annually, and that these reports be tabled in the Senate as reports of the Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration (see Appendix for template of the post-activity expenditure report); and
That in the event that journalists request information with respect to committee travel expenses earlier than the next projected posting time, Senate Communications be authorized to provide the information that would normally be included in a post-activity expenditure report, but only after appropriate consultation with the Committees Directorate and the Finance and Procurement Directorate to confirm that the actual expenditures for a given activity have been finalized, and after approval by an appropriate subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration.
Respectfully submitted,
Larry W. Smith
Chair of the Subcommittee
Senator Smith answered questions.
It was agreed that further discussion be deferred to the next meeting.
CIBA/2014-03-27/056(P) — Adoption of Minutes of Proceedings
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Cordy that the minutes of proceedings of February 6, 2014, public portion, be adopted.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
CIBA/2014-03-27/057(P) — Third Report to the Clerk of the Senate from the Advisory Committee on Diversity and Accessibility (2012-2013 Annual Report)
The Director of Human Resources, Darshan Singh, gave an overview of the Third Report to the Clerk of the Senate from the Advisory Committee on Diversity and Accessibility (2012-2013 Annual Report) on the accomplishments of the Senate Administration's Advisory Committee on Diversity and Accessibility and answered questions.
It was agreed that further discussion on this item be deferred to the next meeting.
CIBA/2014-03-27/058(P) — Diversity and Accessibility Action Plan / 2014-2016
The Director of Human Resources, Darshan Singh, and D'Arcy McPherson, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Diversity and Accessibility, presented the new Diversity and Accessibility Action Plan for 2014-2016 and answered questions.
It was agreed that further discussion on this item be deferred to the next meeting.
CIBA/2014-03-27/059(P) — Progress Report on the Senators' Travel Policy and Guide to Senate Travel for Senators and Senators' Staff
Nicole Proulx, Director, Finance and Procurement, gave a brief update and progress report on the Senators' Travel Policy.
At 10:12 a.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chair.
ATTEST:
Gary W. O'Brien
Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration
Lucie Lavoie
Recording Secretary