Skip to content

Opens in a new window Parliament of Canada

Visit Parliament

Visit

Français

Senators

Senators

Canada’s 105 senators give regions and underrepresented groups a strong voice in Parliament.

Go to Senators

List of Senators

Contact Information

Standings

Parliamentary Diplomacy

The Speaker

Biography

Role of the Speaker

Rulings and Statements

News & Events

Contact

Chamber

Chamber

Read or watch the latest Senate debates and see how senators represent you in Parliament.

Go to Chamber

Order Paper and Notice Paper

Journals of the Senate

Debates of the Senate (Hansard)

Votes

LEGISinfo

Watch & Listen

Calendar

Procedural References

Rules of the Senate

Companion to the Rules of the Senate

Procedural Notes

Speaker's Rulings

Senate Procedure in Practice

Committees

Committees

Senate committees perform in-depth studies of bills and investigate issues that matter to you.

Go to Committees

Business

Schedule of All Meetings

Studies & Bills

Reports

Members of Subcommittees on Agenda and Procedure

Get Involved

For Witnesses

Media Centre

Committee Alerts

eNewsletter

Resources

About Committees

Watch & Listen

LEGISinfo

Procedural References

News

News

Stay up to date with Senate activities and find articles about the Senate’s people, history and procedure.

Go to News

News Releases

Media Advisories

Media Centre

SenCA+

People

News

Opinion

How & Why

About

About

Find procedural references, financial reports and information about the rehabilitation of Parliament Hill.

Go to About

The Senate Explained

Art & Architecture

Artwork & Heritage

Online Collection

Architecture & Rehabilitation

Transparency & Accountability

Financial Reports

Senators' Attendance

Administration & Support

Accessibility

Visit

Virtual tours

Careers

Page Program

Student Employment Program

Resources

Publications

Photo Gallery

Procedural References

Publications

Participate

Participate

Find out how you can visit the Senate, engage with its work and follow Senate proceedings.

Go to Participate

SENgage

Model Senate

Visit

Virtual tours

Watch & Listen

LEGISinfo

Committee Witnesses

Committee Alerts

eNewsletter

Contact Us

Search

CIBA - Standing Committee

Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration

Menu - CIBA

Home

About

Membership

Meetings

Business

Business

Studies & Bills

Briefs & other documents

Reports

Search transcripts

Witnesses

News

Past Session:

44-1

44 th Parliament, 1 st Session

(November 22, 2021 - January 6, 2025)

Select a different session

45 th Parliament

1 st Session

(May 26, 2025 - Present)

44 th Parliament

1 st Session

(November 22, 2021 - January 6, 2025)

43 rd Parliament

2 nd Session

(September 23, 2020 - August 15, 2021)

1 st Session

(December 5, 2019 - August 18, 2020)

42 nd Parliament

1 st Session

(December 3, 2015 - September 11, 2019)

41 st Parliament

2 nd Session

(October 16, 2013 - August 2, 2015)

1 st Session

(June 2, 2011 - September 13, 2013)

40 th Parliament

3 rd Session

(March 3, 2010 - March 26, 2011)

2 nd Session

(January 26, 2009 - December 30, 2009)

1 st Session

(November 18, 2008 - December 4, 2008)

39 th Parliament

2 nd Session

(October 16, 2007 - September 7, 2008)

1 st Session

(April 3, 2006 - September 14, 2007)

38 th Parliament

1 st Session

(October 4, 2004 - November 28, 2005)

37 th Parliament

3 rd Session

(February 2, 2004 - May 23, 2004)

2 nd Session

(September 30, 2002 - November 12, 2003)

1 st Session

(January 29, 2001 - September 16, 2002)

36 th Parliament

2 nd Session

(October 12, 1999 - October 22, 2000)

1 st Session

(September 22, 1997 - September 18, 1999)

35 th Parliament

2 nd Session

(February 27, 1996 - April 27, 1997)

1 st Session

(January 17, 1994 - February 2, 1996)

Download as PDF

THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON INTERNAL ECONOMY, BUDGETS AND ADMINISTRATION

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

OTTAWA, Thursday, May 11, 2023

(23) [ English ]

The Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration met this day at 9:01 a.m., in room C128, Senate of Canada Building, the chair, the Honourable Lucie Moncion, presiding.

Members of the committee present : The Honourable Senators Bovey, Boyer, Carignan, P.C., Dalphond, Dasko, Forest, Loffreda, Moncion, Moodie, Plett, Quinn, Saint-Germain, Seidman and Smith (14).

Other senator present: The Honourable Senator Tannas (1).

Participating in the meeting: Pascale Legault, Chief Corporate Services Officer and Clerk of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration; Gérald Lafrenière, Interim Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments and Chief Legislative Services Officer; Philippe Hallée, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel; senior Senate officials and other support staff.

WITNESSES :

The Honourable Senator Raymonde Saint-Germain, Chair, Subcommittee on Human Resources;

The Honourable Senator Éric Forest, Member, Subcommittee on Senate Estimates and Committee Budgets;

Shaila Anwar, Clerk Assistant, Committees Directorate;

Maxime Fortin, Principal Clerk, Committees Directorate;

Toni Francis, Chief Human Resources Officer, Human Resources Directorate;

David Groves, Parliamentary Counsel, Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel;

Mélisa Leclerc, Director, Communications Directorate;

Shannon Montgomery, Officer, Occupational Health, Safety and Wellness, Human Resources Directorate;

Dominic Laporte, Chief Executive Officer, Translation Bureau;

Matthew Ball, Vice-President, Service to Parliament and

Interpretation, Translation Bureau.

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.

The Chair made a statement.

The senators introduced themselves.

CIBA/2023-05-11/248(P) — Adoption of Minutes of Proceedings from April 20, 2023 (public)

The committee considered the Minutes of Proceedings from April 20, 2023 (public).

The Honourable Senator Carignan, P.C., moved that the Minutes of Proceedings of Thursday, April 20, 2023 (public), be adopted.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

CIBA/2023-05-11/249(P) — Annual Presentation from the Translation Bureau Services

Maxime Fortin made a statement.

Dominic Laporte made a statement and, together with Matthew Ball, answered questions on parliamentary translation services.

CIBA/2023-05-11/250(P) — Report from the Subcommittee on Senate Estimates and Committee Budgets

The Honourable Senator Forest, member of the Subcommittee on Senate Estimates and Committee Budgets, presented the subcommittee’s Fifteenth Report as follows:

Thursday, May 11, 2023

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

FIFTEENTH REPORT

Your subcommittee met on May 2, 2023, to consider three budget requests for the 2023-2024 fiscal year as follows:

1. Agriculture and Forestry (AGFO)

(Special study on the status of soil health in Canada)

Activity 1: Western Canada

$ 128,620

Activity 2: Rome, Italy

$ —

TOTAL

$ 128,620

(includes funds for Activity 1 for a fact-finding mission and 10 senators to travel; the decision on Activity 2 is deferred, pending the submission of a revised budget application)

2. Fisheries and Oceans (POFO)

(Special study on issues relating to the management of Canada’s fisheries and oceans)

Activity 1: Conference in Trondheim, Norway

$ 11,003

TOTAL

$ 11,003

(includes funds for a conference and 1 senator to travel)

3. Fisheries and Oceans (POFO)

(Special study on the Canada’s seal populations and their effect on Canada’s fisheries)

Activity 1: Newfoundland (St. John’s, Elliston, Clarenville,South Dildo)

$ 98,914

TOTAL

$ 98,914

(includes funds for a fact-finding mission and public hearings and for 8 senators and 2 senators’ staff to travel, provided the committee travels during a non-sitting week)

Your subcommittee notes that the funds previously recommended for release in February, in the amount of $116,933, for POFO to conduct a similar activity in relation to their study on seal populations in Canada, will not be used by the committee and can therefore be returned to the pool of available funds for committee activities.

Summary

The total funds in the budgetary envelope available for Senate committee budgets (except for the Audit and Oversight Committee) for 2023-2024 is $2.2 million , less $320,820 for witness expenses, leaving $1.882 million for release to individual committee budgets for travel and other activities. Today’s recommended release of $238,537 brings us to a total of $553 991 recommended for release for four committee travel activities, one conference and one general expenses budget, leaving $1,328,009 for the remainder of the fiscal year.

The budgets approved by the Senate for each travel activity are the maximum amount that can be spent for that activity. Typically, committees’ actual expenditures are closer to 40% of their total budget request. Any funds remaining at the conclusion of a travel activity will be clawed-back and can be made available for allocation to committees for other activities.

Copies of each committee’s budget application are appended to this report.

Respectfully submitted,

ÉRIC FOREST

Member

The Honourable Senator Forest made a statement regarding the Fifteenth Report.

After debate, the Honourable Senator Forest moved that the Fifteenth Report be approved.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted.

CIBA/2023-05-11/251(P) — Report from the Subcommittee on Human Resources — Annual Health and Safety Committee Report

The chair of the Subcommittee on the Human Resources, the Honourable Senator Saint-Germain, tabled the subcommittee’s Eighth Report as follows:

Thursday, May 11, 2023

The Subcommittee on the Senate Estimates and Committee Budgets of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration (CIBA) has the honour to table its

EIGHTH REPORT

On December 15, 2021, your subcommittee was given a mandate by CIBA to study and report on issues related to human resources in the Senate. As part of this mandate, on Friday, April 21, 2023, your subcommittee met to examine the 2022 annual report on Senate Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), appended to this report.

In accordance with its obligations under the Senate Policy on Occupational Health and Safety and the Canada Labour Code (CLC), the Senate is committed to providing and maintaining a healthy and safe workplace. To ensure compliance, the Occupational Health, Safety and Wellness team (OHSW) conducts an annual review evaluating the Senate’s OHS-related programs and activities.

ANALYSIS

The annual report summarizes OHS compliance activities undertaken at the Senate in 2022. With activities related to the monitoring of COVID-19 easing, the OHSW team was able to focus on other key areas of workplace health and safety. The report includes details on OHS committee activities (page 5), well-being activities (page 9), statistics on health and safety incidents (page 13), and key initiatives planned for the upcoming year.

By June 2022, the team achieved compliance in key areas under the CLC,

Part II. Key activities included the following:

introducing mandatory training on workplace health and safety;

launching the LifeWorks Employee and Family Assistance Program platform; and

providing support to the Workplace Health and Safety Committee (WHSC) who completed 100% of their required workplace inspections. This proactive identification of workplace hazards contributed to correcting an additional 107 potential near misses in the workplace

CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS

A key principle of a health and safety program is continual improvement of health and safety outcomes across the organization in order to prevent workplace injury or illness. The Senate is working incrementally to achieve this goal.

Continuing into 2023, the OHSW strategic plan includes launching the Hazard Prevention Program, providing support for formalizing a telework environment, and continuously improving and evaluating the wellness culture at the Senate.

The 2022 OHS annual report is appended to this report of the subcommittee and will soon be available on IntraSEN , together with the OHS reports from previous years.

Respectfully submitted,

RAYMONDE SAINT-GERMAIN

Chair

The Honourable Senator Saint-Germain made a statement and, together with Toni Francis, answered questions regarding the Eighth Report.

CIBA/2023-05-11/252(P) — Amendment to the Senate Administrative Rules — Intellectual Property

David Groves made a statement and, together with Mélisa Leclerc, answered questions regarding the proposed amendments to the Senate administrative Rules to streamline the Senate’s intellectual property permission process.

After debate, the Honourable Senator Quinn moved that the chair be authorized to seek, by way of a report in the Senate, approval to amend

Section 11 of

chapter 3:03 of the Senate administrative Rules as follows:

11. No person may make commercial use of intellectual property referred to in subsection 9(1) except

(

a) by way of fair dealing or any other statutory exception to the scope of intellectual property protection;

(

b) if the commercial use is insignificant in nature; or

(

c) with the consent of the Steering Committee.

The question being put on the motion, it was adopted, on division.

It was further agreed that a quarterly report of commercial request for use of Senate intellectual property be prepared for the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure.

CIBA/2023-05-11/253(P) — Other Matters

The chair made a statement regarding the upcoming retirement of the Honourable Senator Bovey:

“Senators before proceeding in camera, I would l like to take a moment to thank our colleague the Honourable Senator Bovey, for her contribution here at CIBA.

In 2021, CIBA approved the updated policy on Senate Artwork and Heritage Assets. Senate Bovey led the policy review to ensure the Senate has the necessary framework to prudently manage the collection of artwork and artefact on behalf of Canadians.

During her time as chair of the Artwork and Heritage Working Group, Senator Bovey established programs such as Cultivating Perspectives, Museums at the Senate, Honouring Canada’s Black Artists, and Visual Voices. The objective of these programs is to increase the representation of Canadians in the artwork on display at the Senate. Senator Bovey brought the works of important Canadian’s artists such as Edward Burtynsky, Tim Whiten, Denise Thomasos, and many others to the Senate.

In 2022, Dr. Roberta Bondar donated one of her photographs to the Senate in honour of Senator Bovey’s contribution to arts and culture in Canada.

Senator Bovey also oversaw the Senate’s annual artwork and heritage furniture conservation program. Highlights of the conservation treatment completed to date includes the Portrait of King Edward VII, the Portrait of the Honourable Joseph Edouard Cauchon (the first Speaker of the Senate) and the desks in the Senate Chamber.

Senator Bovey, we have appreciated your involvement and your ideas and on behalf of the committee, I wish you all the best in your well-deserved retirement.”

The Honourable Senator Bovey made a statement.

At 10:16 a.m., the committee suspended.

At 10:18 a.m., pursuant to 12-16(1), the committee proceeded in camera.

At 10:59 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

2022 annual report on Senate Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)

Back to top