Wednesday, June 15, 2022

The Standing Committee on Audit and Oversight has the honour to present its

SIXTH REPORT

Your committee, which was authorized to examine and report on the appropriate consequential amendments to the Rules of the Senate and to chapter 3:05 of the Senate Administrative Rules that may be necessary for the implementation of the Senate Audit and Oversight Charter, in relation to the committee’s mandate and procedures, has, in obedience with the order of the Senate of Tuesday, June 7, 2022, examined the said consequential amendments and now reports as follows:

1.That the Rules of the Senate be amended by

(a)replacing rule 12-6(2) with the following:

“12-6. (2) The quorum of the Standing Committee on Audit and oversight shall be two Senators and one external member, except in the case of the organization meeting or when the committee is meeting to consider a report to the Senate nominating its external members. For these meetings the quorum shall be three Senators.”;

(b)replacing rule 12-7(17)(e) with the following:

“(e) review the Senate’s quarterly financial reports and the audited financial statements, for information purposes; and”; and

(c)replacing the first sentence of rule 12-13(4) with the following:

“12-13. (4) After electing its chair and deputy chair, the Standing Committee on Audit and Oversight may, until the Senate has named the external members, only meet to consider a draft report to the Senate nominating the external members for the committee.”.

2.For greater certainty, your committee recommends that the proposed new wording of rule 12-7(17)(e) be maintained even after it becomes rule 12-7(4)(e), on July 31, 2022, as a consequence of the coming into force of the Third Report of the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament, adopted by the Senate on May 12, 2022, and that the Senate Audit and Oversight Charter be amended in consequence.

3.That the Senate Administrative Rules be amended, in Chapter 3:05, by

(a)adding the following after subsection 2(2):

“(3) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), a budget for the Standing Committee on Audit and Oversight must be approved by the Senate. Any budget of the committee shall

(a) be adopted by the committee;

(b) be presented to the Senate as a report of the committee; and

(c) contain a general estimate of the total cost of expenses for carrying out the committee’s mandate or any other order of the Senate.”; and

(b)replacing section 3 with the following:

“3.Except for a budget and report referred to in subsection 2(3), committee budgets and reports shall be in a form approved by the Internal Economy Committee.”.

Respectfully submitted,