Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance
Issue 1 - Minutes of Proceedings
OTTAWA, Tuesday, October 29, 2002
(1)
[English]
The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance met at 9:30 a.m., this day, in room 705, Victoria Building, for the purpose of organization.
Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Bolduc, Cools, Day, Doody, Ferretti Barth, Finnerty, Furey, Gauthier, Mahovlich and Murray, P.C. (10).
In attendance: Mr. Guy Beaumier, Research Officer, Library of Parliament.
Also in attendance:The official reporters of the Senate.
Pursuant to rule 88, the Clerk presided over the election of the Chairman.
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Day, that the Honourable Senator Murray be Chairman of this committee.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Bolduc, that the Honourable Senator Day be Deputy Chair of this committee.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Finnerty —
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be composed of the Chairman, the Deputy Chair and one other member of the committee, to be designated after the usual consultation; and
That the subcommittee be empowered to make recommendations to the committee with respect to its agenda, inviting witnesses, and scheduling hearings.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Doody —
That the committee print its proceedings; and
That the Chair be authorized to set the number to meet demand.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Mahovlich, that, pursuant to rule 89, the Chairman be authorized to hold meetings, to receive and authorize the printing of the evidence when a quorum is not present, provided that a member of the committee from both the government and the opposition is present.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Ferretti Barth, that, pursuant to rule 104, the Chairman be authorized to report expenses incurred by the committee during the last session.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Day —
That the committee ask the Library of Parliament to assign research officers to the committee;
That the Chairman be authorized to seek authority from the Senate to engage the services of such counsel and technical, clerical and other personnel as may be necessary for the purpose of the committee's examination and consideration of such bills, subject-matters of bills and estimates as are referred to it;
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedures be authorized to retain services of such experts as may be required by the work of the committee; and
That the Chairman, on behalf of the committee, direct the research staff in the preparation of studies, analyses, summaries and draft reports.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Doody —
That, pursuant to section 32 of the Financial Administration Act, authority to commit funds be conferred individually on the Chair, the Deputy Chair and the Clerk of the Committee; and
That, pursuant to section 34 of the Financial Administration Act, and Guideline 3:05 of Appendix II of the Rules of the Senate, authority for certifying accounts payable by the committee be conferred individually on the Chair, the Deputy Chair, and the Clerk of the Committee.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
It was agreed to stand the motion delegating to the subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure the power to designate members and staff to travel on behalf of the committee and the motion delegating to the subcommittee the power to designate members travelling on committee business.
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Day, that, pursuant to the Senate guidelines for witnesses expenses, the committee may reimburse reasonable travelling and living expenses for one witness from any one organization and payment will take place upon application, but that the Chairman be authorized to approve expenses for a second witness should there be exceptional circumstances.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Furey —
That the Chairman be authorized to seek permission from the Senate to permit coverage by electronic media of its public proceedings with the least possible disruption of its hearings; and
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be empowered to allow such coverage at its discretion.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The Chair informed the members that the committee's regular meeting times are Tuesday mornings at 9:30 a.m. and Wednesday afternoons at 6:15 p.m., and that meetings will be held in room 705 of the Victoria Building.
At 9:54 a.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.
ATTEST:
OTTAWA, Tuesday, November 5, 2002
(2)
[English]
The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance met at 9:35 a.m., in camera, this day, in room 705, Victoria Building, for the purpose of considering a draft agenda, the Chair, the Honourable Senator Murray, P.C., presiding.
Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Biron, Cools, Doody, Day, Finnerty, Ferretti Barth, Furey, Gauthier and Murray, P.C. (9).
In attendance: Mr. Guy Beaumier, Research Officer, Library of Parliament.
Motions not adopted at organization meeting
After discussion, it was agreed not to empower the Subcommittee on Agenda and procedure to designate, as required, one or more members of the committee and/or such staff as may be necessary to travel on assignment on behalf of the committee.
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Doody, —
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be authorized to:
1) determine whether any member of the committee is on ``official business'' for the purposes of paragraph 8(3)(a) of the Senators Attendance Policy, published in the Journals of the Senate on Wednesday, June 3, 1998; and
2) consider any member of the committee to be on ``official business'' if that member is: (a) attending a function, event or meeting related to the work of the committee; or (b) making a presentation related to the work of the committee.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted on the following division:
Yeas
The Honourable Senators Biron, Day, Doody, Ferretti-Barth, Finnerty, Furey, Gauthier.
Nays
The Honourable Senator Cools.
The committee undertook discussion of its future business.
After discussion it was agreed to hear officials from Treasury Board with respect to the Supplementary Estimates ``A'' for 2002-2003 on Tuesday November 26, 2002.
After discussion, it was moved by the Honourable Senator Gauthier —
That the committee hear the Public Service Commission on either November 19 or 20, 2002.
The question being put on the motion, it was rejected on division.
After discussion it was agreed that the committee on November 19, 2002 consider the advisability of presenting to the Senate its report on the Government Contingencies Vote and its report on the National Capital Commission adopted by the committee and presented to the Senate during the First Session of the 37th Parliament.
At 10:35 a.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.
ATTEST:
OTTAWA, Tuesday, November 19, 2002
(3)
[English]
The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance met at 9:33 a.m., in camera, this day, in room 705, Victoria Building, for the purpose of discussing a draft agenda and a draft Budget, the Chair, the Honourable Senator Murray, presiding.
Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Bolduc, Comeau, Cools, Doody, Ferretti Barth, Finnerty, Furey, Gauthier, Mahovlich and Murray, P.C. (10).
In attendance: Mr. Guy Beaumier, Research Officer, Library of Parliament.
The committee undertook discussion of its draft budget.
It was moved by the Honourable Senator Ferretti Barth that the committee approve the following budget application:
Professional and other services: $3,000
Total $3,000
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
The committee undertook discussion of its report from the previous session of Parliament on the Government Contingencies Vote — Treasury Board Vote 5.
After discussion, it was agreed to hear the comments of Treasury Board officials at the meeting of November 26 before deciding on whether to hear more witnesses and on what action to take regarding the report presented during the previous session of Parliament.
The committee undertook discussion of its report from the previous session of Parliament on the National Capital Commission. After discussion, it was agreed that the Minister of Canadian Heritage, as the minister through whom the National Capital Commission reports to Parliament, be invited before the committee on December 10, 2002 to respond to the Committee's recommendations in the report, particularly Recommendation 2 relating to monies received by the National Capital Commission for the sale of surplus assets.
At 10:39 a.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.
ATTEST:
OTTAWA, Tuesday, November 26, 2002
(4)
[English]
The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance met at 9:31 a.m., this day, in room 705, Victoria Building, the Chair, the Honourable Senator Murray, P.C., presiding.
Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators, Bolduc, Comeau, Cools, Day, Doody, Ferretti Barth, Finnerty, Gauthier, Lynch-Staunton, Mahovlich and Murray, P.C. (11).
In attendance: Mr. Guy Beaumier, Research Officer, Library of Parliament.
Also present: The official reporters of the Senate.
WITNESSES:
From the Treasury Board Secretariat:
Mr. Richard J. Neville, Deputy Comptroller General, Comptrollership Branch;
Mr. David Bickerton, Executive Director, Expenditure Operations and Estimates Directorate, Comptrollership Branch.
Pursuant to the Order of Reference adopted by the Senate on November 5, 2002, the committee undertook its examination of the Supplementary Estimates (A) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2003.
Mr. Neville made an opening statement and, with Mr. Bickerton, answered questions from members of the committee.
At 11:11 a.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.
ATTEST:
Tõnu Onu
Clerk of the Committee