Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Feb. 16th, 2016

[Andre Barnes]

It was the House of Representatives in Australia.

I also found out in reading the report.... Only a few days ago the House of Representatives in Australia produced a report which allows for breastfeeding in the chamber, which I'll cover in a second. I read the report, and it does speak about the other jurisdictions that have proxy voting. The Senate in Australia has proxy voting, and a number of other states in Australia do as well.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

The reference is proxy voting. There's no use of technology involved in this. It is just proxy voting.

[Andre Barnes]

It makes it sound like there is a slip of paper involved.

Turning to non-members on the floor during a sitting, by tradition no non-member or no member who is not part of the staff is allowed to be on the floor during a sitting. That means everyone who is not part of that group is considered in our Parliament to be strangers. In other jurisdictions they are known as visitors. The Speaker can ask all visitors and all strangers to leave. In the past this has caused some issues, because on at least three occasions a member has brought a baby into the House during a sitting and technically that is considered to be a stranger.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Right now is that a stranger in our House?

[Andre Barnes]

That said, when it last occurred, in either 2010 or 2011, there was a point of order raised about it. The Speaker clarified the position of the House of Commons at present. The Speaker indicated that infants were permitted on the floor of the House provided disruption and disturbance did not occur and the work of the House could proceed uninterrupted. What I gather is that members were taking pictures of the infant last time.

Meanwhile, the Australian House of Representatives has said that breastfeeding is now permitted on the floor of the House. It may be worth noting that 100 out of 150 members of the House in Australia are women, and I gather three cabinet members have recently given birth and four men are expecting children in the short term. The newspaper referred to it as a mini baby boom. The way they changed their Standing Orders was to amend the definition of “visitor” so that it does not include an infant cared for by a member.

In terms of parental leave, in our House, as noted by the Clerk of the House, the pay and benefits package for Canadian MPs does not contain any specific provisions about parental leave. In fact, senators and MPs under the Parliament of Canada Act are docked pay—

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

I just have one question. As it was written in the report, my understanding is that if an MP is away for 20 days and comes back for one day, then the clock starts again. Is that true?

[Andre Barnes]

I do not think that's the case. I think it is the total.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Is that the total in a session or in a Parliament?

[Andre Barnes]

Yes, it is per session. That reference might be true for senators who under the Constitution need to attend—

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Could you check that? I was told by personnel that if you could come back for one day you could start your 20-day—not that I want to be away, but just so the report is accurate....

Thank you.

[Andre Barnes]

There are others. The deductions are written in the report. There are the deductions for senators. There are the deductions for members of Parliament, set out in the Parliament of Canada Act.

The child care facilities for—

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I was looking at the report and it gives the reasons you can be absent and get leave from the Speaker. Being sick is one of them, but if your child is sick and you have to care for your child, that would not currently be considered a reason.

[Andre Barnes]

It's set out in the Parliament of Canada Act, so there isn't a lot of flexibility. It does not include that in the clauses in the Parliament of Canada Act.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

What has been the practice? Do you know?

That would require a legislative change if they were to say that caregiving for children—

[Andre Barnes]

Yes.

For child care facilities for the House, I gather there is no institutional policy for the provision of child care or its expenses for members and their children. Parliament nonetheless has an on-site day care, Children On The Hill. It has spaces for about 34 children ages 1.5 years to 5 years. Priority is given to senators, members of Parliament, employees of the Senate and the House, Library of Parliament employees, members of the press gallery, and employees of the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

What is the timing for the day care? How old does a child have to be to get admitted to the day care? What are the rules? What do you have to sign up for? What is the length of time if you are putting your child inside day care? Do you have those details?

[Andre Barnes]

I do not, although in a discussion with Mr. Graham prior to the meeting, he mentioned that it ends at five.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

I don't know if it's five, but I know it ends before we do.

[Andre Barnes]

I can come back with an answer to that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Could we get that for the next meeting?

My understanding is that although we're only here a week in, a week out, you can't sign up like that. You have to sign up for the whole month.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I think the minimum is 18 months, so if you have a child less than 18 months old, you can't even use the day care.

[Andre Barnes]

Sorry, my understanding of that facility is that it is not a drop-off for a day type of thing. There are spots and then you would...I'm not sure for how long you would get a spot, but I could come back—

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Maybe you could give us one page on all the details of that.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Could you also find out if there's a waiting list for the day care?

[Andre Barnes]

My understanding anecdotally from people who use it is that there is.