Moved the adoption of the report.

He said: Honourable senators, this report deals with the Senate’s budget for 2021-22. The anticipated budget is $115.6 million, which is at the same level as the 2020-21 budget.

As background on the process of arriving at the budget, it is based on the recommendations of the Subcommittee on Senate Estimates. The subcommittee is comprised of Senator Moncion, chair; Senator Marshall, deputy chair; and Senators Munson, Saint-Germain and Tannas.

The members of the subcommittee met with the Senate Administration’s executive committee and the majority of the directors on many occasions. Detailed presentations were made by the directorates to the subcommittee. The members had the opportunity to discuss and question funding requirements and savings proposals during this process. Directors were asked to identify internal sources of funds to address new funding needs in order to keep the budget flat with the previous year.

Throughout its consideration of the Main Estimates, the committee took into consideration the changes in the Senate but also the impact of the pandemic on the Senate’s operations. The committee was also very mindful of the Canadian economic situation and the importance of balancing operational needs with proper stewardship of public funds. As a result, the Main Estimates had been prepared with prudence and restraint to ensure that the level of Senate spending remains stable without compromising service to senators.

Moving to the detail of the expenditures, I would remind senators that there are two parts to the budget: one is statutory funding and the other is voted funding.

The statutory portion deals with money allocated by legislation. This includes senators’ basic and additional allowances and pensions, senators’ travel and living expenses, telecommunications and employee benefit plans. Any shortfalls in these categories at the end of the year are covered by the Treasury Board. Conversely, surpluses are automatically returned to the Treasury Board, as they cannot be reallocated.

The second part of the budget is the voted budget, which is for the workings of the Senate. They cover senators’ office budgets and the Senate Administration.

Briefly going over the numbers, the total amount of the statutory budget is $36.5 million, which represents an increase of $0.6 million or 2% from last year. The major reason for the small increase is because the Senate’s basic and additional allowances and pensions are increasing by $1.1 million to reflect the allowance increase that has been in place since April 1, 2020. It also reflects an increase in the Senate pension contribution rate from $19.7 million to 23.3%.

This increase was partially offset by three items: a temporary decrease of $214,000 to the senators’ travel budget; a reduction in projected telecommunication costs of $100,000; and a reduction in the budgeted contribution of the employee benefit plans of $178,000.

Moving to the second part of the budget, which is the voted budget, the total financial envelope for this portion was $79.1 million, which is a decrease of $0.6 million, or 0.8%.

This decrease was primarily comprised of two major items: first, an $810,000 temporary decrease in Senate committee travel; and, second, $424,000 decrease for international and inter-parliamentary affairs, primarily due to expired funding for previous initiatives and the cancellation of a conference due to the pandemic.

These decreases were partially offset by an increase of $579,000 for administration primarily for two items: $331,000 in additional resources for the Information Services Directorate to support new services and enhance information technology in general; and $228,000 for the official classification assessments completed during 2020-21.

From a staffing standpoint, the budget includes a net increase of only four positions. Management also presented temporary funding initiatives totalling $1.2 million, mainly for information technology renewal. However, these requests will be funded from saving initiatives and reallocation from the current budget envelopes and therefore did not result in an increased budget.

To conclude, I would like to thank the subcommittee and administration for their extensive work and effort in keeping the budget flat for last year. They deserve a lot of credit.

I encourage all senators to adopt the report. Thank you, colleagues.