QUESTION PERIOD — Business of the Senate
Cost of Hybrid Chamber Sittings
December 8, 2020
Senator Gold, in October, I asked you as the government leader in the Senate, how much hybrid Senate sittings would cost Canadian taxpayers. You guessed that it was around $400,000, stating, “I don’t have a final costing for it, but it is money well spent . . . .” That’s rather a cavalier attitude about public expenditures, Senator Gold, but perhaps not surprising given that your leader Mr. Trudeau previously assured Canadians that the budget will balance itself.
We have held the hybrid Senate sittings for a few weeks now and have seen numerous examples of technical failures that prevent senators from doing our jobs. We have a Zoom voting system where neither we nor the Canadian public can see and verify how senators vote on motions or legislation. Given that you are the government leader in the Senate, and we have been sitting in a hybrid Senate format for weeks, can you now tell us precisely how much all of this is costing?
Senator, thank you for your question. The figure to which you referred was the figure for the capital expenses for the equipment provided by the administration and was approved by CIBA. We’re sitting in hybrid so that Parliament and the Senate can do its work on behalf of Canadians. Of course it costs money. It costs money if we sit here in person, and it costs money to enable those who are unable to be here to participate fully and represent their regions and their constituencies.
The focus on specific dollars that it may continue to cost us to support the work of the Senate through this pandemic is a legitimate question to ask. I would certainly endeavour to find the answer, and it will be a rolling answer because with every day that we sit and do the nation’s business, there will be some costs associated with it. I would be remiss in my responsibilities as a senator and as a parliamentarian, leaving aside my role representing this government, not to underline the fact that the importance of the hybrid sitting is that it, finally, allows us to do our work, to do the work we were summoned here to do. I find it “passing strange,” if I may borrow an expression from my friends down east, that the focus is not on doing our work, but the bean counting required for the dollars and cents, which is a matter of public record. I will be happy to get that information for you when it becomes available.
Senator Gold, the Senate’s financial disclosure for the last quarter has now been posted publicly online, but it is impossible to tell which expenditures relate to the hybrid Senate. Is it the $1.4 million for IT hardware for virtual Parliament or the multiple consulting contracts posted that offer no further detail? Since I asked you about this cost in October, and given that you have a $1.5 million office budget and a multitude of staff in your role as the government leader in the Senate, you’ve had time to make inquiries. So why aren’t you being transparent with Canadians about the cost of the hybrid Senate? Do you think it doesn’t matter or don’t you want us to know?
Senator Batters, thank you again for your question. I accept that every penny, every dollar we spent is taxpayers’ money, and it’s a legitimate question to ask what it costs us to run our operation. You’ll forgive the exasperation in my voice, and I’m going on record to repeat that the important thing is that we’re here doing our constitutional duty. The alternative — which seems implicit in the question — that we would be better off either exposing senators and staff to the risks associated with gathering in large numbers or, as bad, not allowing each and every senator who was summoned here to represent their province, their region and their constituency to do their job, or to have to make the impossible choice of exposing themselves, others and their families to risk is an irresponsible assumption, which I do not assume was underlying your question.
