THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON INTERNAL ECONOMY, BUDGETS AND ADMINISTRATION
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
OTTAWA, Thursday, May 28, 2026
(13)
[English]
The Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration (CIBA) met this day at 8:00 a.m., in room C128, Senate of Canada Building.
Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Ataullahjan, Audette, Bernard, Boehm, Boyer, Downe, Forest, Henkel, Loffreda, MacAdam, MacDonald, Moodie, Osler, Oudar, and Quinn (15).
Other senators present: The Honourable Senators Clement, Greenwood, Karetak-Lindell, Mohamed, Pate, Ross, and Saint-Germain (7).
Participating in the meeting: Shaila Anwar, Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments; Marie‑Ève Belzile, Deputy Clerk, Legislative Services; Pascale Legault, Chief Corporate Services Officer and Clerk of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration; Julie Wellington, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; senior Senate officials and other support staff.
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.
WITNESSES:
The Honourable Senator Éric Forest, Chair, Subcommittee on Senate Estimates and Committee Budgets;
The Honourable Senator Raymonde Saint-Germain, Co-Chair, Joint Interparliamentary Council;
Jeremy LeBlanc, Clerk Assistant and Director General, International and Interparliamentary Affairs.
The chair made a statement.
The senators introduced themselves.
CIBA/2026-05-28/136(P) — Consent Agenda
The chair made a statement regarding the consent agenda.
The Honourable Senator Moodie moved that the consent agenda, which is comprised of the following items, be adopted:
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The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
CIBA/2026-05-28/137(P) — Report from the Subcommittee on Senate Estimates and Committee Budgets — Budget Request from the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples
The Chair of the Subcommittee on Senate Estimates and Committee Budgets, the Honourable Senator Forest, presented the Ninth Report of the subcommittee as follows:
Thursday, May 28, 2026
The Subcommittee on the Senate Estimates and Committee Budgets of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration has the honour to present its
NINTH REPORT
Your subcommittee met on April 30, 2026, the deputy chair, the Honourable Senator Claude Carignan, P.C., presiding, to consider a budget request of the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, as follows:
Indigenous Peoples (APPA)
(Special study on the Voices of Youth Indigenous Leaders)
General Expenses $ 26,250
TOTAL $ 26,250
(includes a request for funds for hospitality, consultants and supplementary transportation and accommodation costs for participants)
Your subcommittee supports the purpose and rationale of the request and acknowledges the committee’s efforts to identify real savings in order to reduce costs as much as possible.
Recommendation
Your subcommittee recommends the release of funds for this request, for a total of $26,250.
Committee Budget Summary
For your information, the total funds in the budgetary envelope available for Senate committee budgets (except for the Committee on Audit and Oversight) for 2026-2027 is $1,202,920, less $320,820 for witness expenses and committee refreshments, leaving $882,100 for release to individual committee budgets.
Today’s budget request is the first of this fiscal year.
The budget approved by the Senate reflects the maximum amount that can be spent for that activity. Your subcommittee encourages the committee to look for reasonable ways to reduce its expenditures.
Typically, committees’ actual expenditures are closer to 40% of their total budget request. Any funds remaining at the conclusion of an activity will be clawed-back and can be made available for allocation to committees for other activities.
A copy of the committee’s budget application is appended to this report.
Respectfully submitted,
ÉRIC FOREST
Chair
After debate, the Honourable Senator Forest moved that the subcommittee’s Ninth Report be adopted.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
CIBA/2026-05-28/138(P) — Letter from the Joint Interparliamentary Council — Funding Increase for Parliamentary Associations
The Honourable Senator Saint-Germain made a statement and, together with Jeremy LeBlanc, answered questions regarding a letter received from the Joint Interparliamentary Council concerning a request to increase to the budget envelope for 2026-2027 fiscal year and subsequent years.
After debate, the Honourable Senator Quinn moved that a permanent increase of $628,250 to the parliamentary associations’ budgetary envelope for fiscal year 2026-2027, to be allocated according to the established 30/70 split ($188,475 for the Senate and $439,775 for the House of Commons) be approved, pending corresponding approval of the House of Commons’ Board of Internal Economy; and
That an annual adjustment, starting in 2027-2028 to the Joint Interparliamentary Council’s overall budget envelope based on the Consumer Price Index, in alignment with the approach adopted by CIBA and BOIE to mitigate the impact of inflation on other parliamentary budgets, be approved, pending corresponding approval of the House of Commons’ Board of Internal Economy.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
CIBA/2026-05-28/139(P) — Creation of the Subcommittee on Diversity (Continued)
The Honourable Senators Moodie made a statement regarding the creation of the Subcommittee on Diversity.
After debate, the Honourable Senator Moodie moved:
That a Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion be established and authorized to examine and report on issues of diversity in the Senate workforce;
That the composition of the subcommittee be as follows: two Honourable Senators from the Independent Senators Group (ISG); one Honourable Senator from the Canadian Senators Group (CSG); one Honourable Senator from the Conservative Party of Canada; and one Honourable Senator from the Progressive Senate Group (PSG);
That the following senators be named as members of the subcommittee:
• The Honourable Senator Moodie;The Honourable Senator Boyer;
• The Honourable Senator Osler;
• The Honourable Senator Ataullahjan; and
• The Honourable Senator Henkel;
That the subcommittee be required to report to the committee from time to time; and
That the mandate respecting diversity in the Senate workforce be removed from the Subcommittee on Human Resources.
The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.
CIBA/2026-05-28/140(P) — For Information - Items sent via email
The chair made a statement regarding the items that were sent via email to members for information purposes:
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- Occupational Health, Safety, and Wellness — 2025 Annual Report.
At 8:41 a.m., the committee suspended.
At 8:45 a.m., pursuant to rule 12-16(1), the committee resumed in camera.
At 10:05 a.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chair.
ATTEST:
Pascale Legault
Chief Corporate Services Officer and Clerk of the Standing Committee on
Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration
Keli Hogan
Recording Secretary