Proceedings of the Standing Committee on
Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration
Issue No. 7 - Minutes of Proceedings - November 24, 2016
OTTAWA, Thursday, November 24, 2016
(23)
[English]
The Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration met this day at 9:02 a.m., in room 160- S, Centre Block, the chair, the Honourable Leo Housakos, presiding.
Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Batters, Cordy, Downe, Housakos, Jaffer, Manning, Marshall, Munson, Ngo, Smith, Tannas, Tkachuk, Wallace and Wells (14).
Other senators present: The Honourable Senators Andreychuk and Mitchell (2).
Also in attendance: Nicole Proulx, Chief Corporate Services Officer and Clerk of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration; Charles Robert, Clerk of the Senate and Chief Legislative Officer; Michel Patrice, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel and Chief, Parliamentary Precinct Services; Luc Presseau, Director of Human Resources and other senior Senate officials.
Also present: The official reporters of the Senate.
Pursuant to rule 12-7(1) of the Rules of the Senate, the committee continued its consideration of financial and administrative matters concerning the Senate's internal administration.
At 9:23 a.m., the committee continued in public.
CIBA/2016-11-24/189(P)|211| — Adoption of Minutes of Proceedings
The committee considered the Minutes of Proceedings of November 3, 2016.
The Honourable Senator Manning moved:
That the Minutes of Proceedings of November 3, 2016, be adopted.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
CIBA/2016-11-24/190(P)|211| — Adoption of Minutes of Proceedings
The committee considered the Minutes of Proceedings of November 17, 2016.
The Honourable Senator Marshall moved:
That the Minutes of Proceedings of November 17, 2016, be adopted.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
CIBA/2016-11-24/191(P)|280| — First Report of the Advisory Working Group on the Corporate Credit Card
The Chair of the Advisory Working Group on the Corporate Credit Card, the Honourable Senator Wells, presented the First Report of the group as follows:
Thursday, November 24, 2016
The Advisory Working Group on the Corporate Credit Card of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration has the honour to present its
FIRST REPORT
On March 24, 2016, the Advisory Working Group on the Corporate Credit Card was established, with the following three (3) senators as members: Senator Wells (chair), Senator Jaffer (deputy chair) and Senator Batters.
Your advisory working group was given the mandate to review the terms of reference for the statement of work and make recommendations with respect to the competitive process for procuring a new corporate credit card. Your working group met with Pascale Legault, Chief Financial Officer, at its meeting on October 25, 2016.
The advisory working group was advised of the following during its meeting:
The contract with the current credit card provider for travel services, American Express (AMEX) will expire on March 31, 2017.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) to procure a new long-term contract for a corporate travel credit card would be in keeping with best practices, particularly given that the current contract is an interim extension ending on March 31, 2017. An RFP involves the development of detailed requirements, the undertaking of a competitive bidding process, negotiations, and award of contract in addition to allowing for sufficient time to facilitate a comprehensive transfer if AMEX is not the winning bid. While a competitive process could be launched immediately, it is customary to allow 45 to 90 days for a change in provider with such contracts. Alternatively, a sole source contract could be renewed with the existing provider.
Because there is no service cost to the Senate for travel cards, the mandatory competitive process for a service contract over $35,000 for the Senate Administration or over $70,000 for the senators' offices is not applicable.
During the fiscal year 2015-16, the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration authorized the Senate Administration to implement an integrated Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) to replace several of the existing aging systems. This implementation is taking place over the next two fiscal years with a plan for full implementation in March 2018. There is a risk associated with introducing a new card program during the ERP implementation period.
Several interfaces with the existing Senate systems are required to make this implementation successful, such as changes to the e-claim system and the new proactive disclosure model. A new credit card would introduce another system change and require additional programming, interface change and training.
Delaying a change of the existing credit card provider will help mitigate the risks of possible interference with several initiatives and systems being introduced over the next two fiscal years as part of the ERP project. The interface for a new card program could be created at a later date once the implementation has been completed and stabilized.
In addition to providing an excellent service over the last five years, AMEX also provides premium insurance coverage at no additional cost. A two-year extension of the current contract allows sufficient time to complete the successful implementation of the new ERP system and draft a new solicitation document. If any transition period is required, this option also ensures that there is no interruption of service.
The following timeline was proposed by the Senate Administration:
November 2016: Amendment to current contract with AMEX
Spring 2018: The Finance and Procurement Directorate, under the direction of the advisory working group, will finalize the requirements to be included in the solicitation document for a competitive process.
Issue the solicitation document.Fall 2018: Contract award and transition period, if required.
April 1, 2019: Start of new contract.
Your advisory working group recommends that the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration approve an extension of the current contract with American Express for two years until March 31, 2019; and
That the committee approve the timeline above and a new contract be awarded by April 1, 2019.
Respectfully submitted,
DAVID M. WELLS
Chair
The Honourable Senator Wells made a statement.
The Honourable Senator Wells moved:
That the report be adopted.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
CIBA/2016-11-24/192(P)|121| — Request to Appeal the Decision of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure regarding Legal Fees (Senator Duffy)
The chair informed the committee that the Honourable Senator Duffy is appealing the decision from the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure to not approve the partial reimbursement of legal fees and disbursements in relation to his defence in a criminal proceeding.
Michel Patrice made a statement and answered questions.
The Honourable Senator Munson moved:
That the Honourable Senator Duffy be invited to appear before the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration to appeal the decision of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure to not approve the reimbursement of legal fees relating to his defence in a criminal proceeding.
After debate, the question being put on the motion, it was adopted on the following vote:
YEAS
The Honourable Senators
Cordy, Jaffer, Manning, Munson, Smith, Tannas, Wallace, Wells — 8
NAYS
The Honourable Senators
Batters, Housakos, Marshall, Ngo, Tkachuk — 5
ABSTENTION
The Honourable Senator
Downe — 1
CIBA/2016-11-24/193(P)|230| — Audit Subcommittee: Independent Oversight
The Honourable Senator Smith made an oral report of the Audit Subcommittee's current work for the establishment of an oversight body for expenses. It plans to report shortly with recommendations. The Honourable Senator Smith also answered questions.
At 10:10 a.m., the committee proceeded in camera.
At 10:20 a.m., the committee continued in public.
CIBA/2016-11-24/195(P)|248| — Update on the Dispute Resolution Process
The Honourable Senator Wallace made a statement about the committee's financial demands for retired senators to repay certain amounts following the Auditor General's report, but who did not opt for the dispute resolution process.
The chair informed the committee that the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel will be providing additional information at a future meeting.
At 10:24 a.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chair.
ATTEST:
Nicole Proulx
Clerk of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration
Daniel Charbonneau
Recording Secretary