Proceedings of the Standing Committee on
Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration
Issue 5 - Evidence - February 19, 2015
OTTAWA, Thursday, February 19, 2015
The Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration met this day at 8:30 a.m., in public, for the consideration of administrative matters; and in camera for the consideration of administrative and other matters.
Senator Pierre Claude Nolin (Chair) in the chair.
[English]
The Chair: Good morning, everyone.
We all have in front of us the agenda, so we'll start with the public portion of our meeting and Item 1, adoption of the minutes of proceedings of February 5, 2015. Are there any comments or questions before we move to adoption?
Seeing none, do I have a mover? Yes, Senator Manning and Senator Cordy.
Are the minutes adopted? Adopted.
Item 2 is the Twelfth Report of the Subcommittee on Committee Budgets.
Senator LeBreton: Honourable senators, on behalf of the chair of the subcommittee, Senator Smith, I'm pleased to present the Twelfth Report of the Subcommittee on Committee Budgets dealing with two budget applications: one from the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans and one from Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence.
Senator Manning, Chair of Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, has asked for funding so that he can attend the Seafood Expo in Boston, Massachusetts, from March 15 to March 17. This is the largest seafood trade event in North American. Senator Manning believes that this attendance will be useful in the context of the committee's current study on aquaculture. He assured the committee that while the budget request amounts to some $8,000, he will make every effort to keep costs down. Your subcommittee supports this request.
The subcommittee also heard from Senator Lang, who presented a budget application for the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence to undertake a fact-finding trip to Toronto before the end of this fiscal year. The trip is part of the committee's study of security threats facing Canada. They plan to have a number of meetings with law enforcement authorities and other groups to enhance their understanding of the terrorist threat in Canada. The budget application amounts to some $24,000.
There are sufficient funds in the envelope for committees to cover both of these requests. To date, over $530,000 has been clawed back from completed or cancelled trips, and there is a balance of $93,805 available for distribution to committees. We are also aware that there will be further clawbacks as travel activities of committees are completed.
I request the adoption of the report.
The Chair: Are there any questions or comments for Senator LeBreton? Seeing none, do we have a mover to adopt? Senator LeBreton moved, seconded by Senator White. Adopted. Carried.
We will now move to the in camera portion of meeting.
(The committee continued in camera.)