Procedure and House Affairs Committee on March 18th, 2010

[Claire Kennedy]

That's correct.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Or that you've acquired with your office budget that belong to the House.

[Claire Kennedy]

Yes.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Okay. I will see if I can find that information.

Would you have a ballpark figure as to what the recommendations are for an MP in terms of liability coverage? Is there a general rule of thumb?

[Claire Kennedy]

I think we do recommend approximately $2 million for the liability insurance.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Okay, thank you.

Now, just on another topic, we talked about preserving the heritage buildings that we occupy. Certainly, every time we have constituents here, they marvel at the great architecture and the way they're maintained. There are some deficiencies, as we all know, in terms of maintenance.

I'm wondering if anyone has ever raised the question of possibly replacing the ice shelters that adorn the doors of the Centre Block, and at other buildings as well. Those little ice shelters look like temporary huts. I think they actually devalue the overall splendour of our buildings.

I know it would cost something, and this is probably not the time to do it, but at some point I think it's something that I would like to consider addressing.

I don't know if there's any response to this.

[Audrey O'Brien]

I couldn't agree with you more. I've been fighting so long on other issues that I haven't paid enough attention to the ice huts. You are absolutely right, they are pretty grim.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

It's further down the list. I think we're so accustomed to it, but when visitors do come, it is one thing that has been mentioned.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Raise it with the Minister of Public Works; they're on the outside of the building.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

I could do that.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

She'd love to hear from you.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I think it was in your opening comments that you mentioned the increases to the estimates (C), statutory appropriations. About halfway down the page, you talked about additional funding for the travel points system. You mentioned, if I heard you correctly, that this is the first time since 2005-06 that there's been any increase to this particular allotment.

Could you give us a percentage figure, maybe per year or even from that one big jump? What does the $2.7 million represent in terms of percentage increase, and is this in line with the growing costs over the years?

If you don't have that material today, you can send it later on, but I'd be interested in knowing what that would be.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

I think Ms. Kennedy will have some figures that she could enlighten you with in terms of the amount that was there before, and how much is spent in each of the years.

In fact, I can list the expenditures if you'd like to hear them. For 2005-06 it was $17,455,000. To go to 2009-10, it's estimated at $21,317,000.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Percentage-wise, we're looking at what?

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

That I don't have calculated on this sheet.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Is it maybe ten percent? I guess my point is that it doesn't seem like an inordinate yearly increase in terms of the overall travel points budget system. It's not out of line with what we could expect.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

No, not at all. In fact, if you factor in elections and so on, the figures haven't gone up that much at all. Certainly in election years there's usually less travel because you're restricted to one trip a week to Ottawa. Most people don't even bother doing that during that time, so there's considerable restriction there.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Mr. Lukiwski, you're next on my list.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Thanks, Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Ms. O'Brien, for being here.

My question--when I get to the question--might be considered slightly out of order here, but I think it's a question all of us here have a great deal of interest in having answered, so I preface my remarks by saying that. It has to do with ten percenters, so it does have some relationship to the reasons you're here.

As you know, Mr. Speaker, yesterday there was a motion passed through the House to stop the regrouping or the mailing of ten percenters outside of our own ridings. That issue is mainly within the purview of the Board of Internal Economy, which you chair. Subsequent to that, the Liberals have indicated they would be voluntarily stopping those mailings, but they would want a review to see if other parties complied with the motion.

The Conservative Party said we would stop mailing outside of our own ridings if all of the other parties did as well, so if all parties said that was good, and we all agreed, then fine, and it would be a done deal. The cost of ten percenters would go down. That would be a good thing.

My question--and this is where we might be just fringing on whether or not this is in order--is what happens if you do not get unanimous consent amongst all parties to stop mailing ten percenters outside of our own ridings? Is the BOIE compelled to follow the wishes of the House, based on the motion that was carried, or does it have a certain autonomy on that issue of ten percenters?

Again, Mr. Speaker, I don't know whether you're in a position to answer or not, but I think everyone here would love to get your take on that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

If you tread carefully, I'll allow you to, if you would like.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Oh, I'm so keen.

[Voices]

Oh! Oh!

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Obviously it's a matter for the board to decide, but I point out that the board is a statutory body, not a committee of the House. So whether the House order binds it or not, I don't know, but then if the order was not complied with by the board, would there be claims that the board was in contempt of the House? I don't know.

I think the possibilities of argument here are substantial and possibly endless. The board will be meeting soon. I believe our next meeting is on Monday. We'll see what happens if and when this issue is raised at the meeting. I suspect it might be, given the resolution of the House, and given the statements that have been made by parties.

We'll see what happens at the board meeting. Maybe there'll be a motion to end them, and if so, the bylaws will be amended accordingly. I will see.