Evidence of meeting #4 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was work.
A video is available from Parliament.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Excellent.
That was quite a good use of that time. Thank you for your approach, Ms. Blaney.
Mr. Gerretsen, you have five minutes.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
My first question, Madam Chair, has to do with—and I know it's been talked about—the relationship between members of the House and the Senate and the ongoing work in the working groups, but I know that at the beginning of this discussion in the last Parliament, where I was on PROC as well, we raised some concern with respect to the fact that senators in particular, with whom we will be sharing the building, have a better continuity than members of the House in view of the fact they don't have to get elected.
I know for a fact that the three members from the Conservatives who sit on this committee weren't here in the last Parliament, so we start to lose this continuity. I hate to say this, and I mean it with all due respect, but there comes to be a bit of territorialism around the building and what aspects of the building are used by the Senate and what is used by members of the House. I'm curious as to how you can preserve.... For example, in the last session I received a massive binder with all these pages—you sent it to my house, I think, at the beginning of the pandemic—and I sat there for a couple of hours looking at the diagrams and everything. I don't know if other members have received that, the newer members of this committee who weren't on the last one...?
They haven't, so this continuity is immediately lost, and I think it's very important to preserve that. If this is going to go on for another 10 years, I'm just curious about how you're preserving that for the membership of this committee, because it's going to change a lot more frequently than the Senate membership that's overseeing this.
12:50 p.m.
Deputy Clerk, Administration
That continuity for long-term projects is always an issue, but obviously there is continuity, both in terms of elected members and in terms of the continuity and your re-election from election to election. There's also something in terms of the way the working group works. The working group that was created by the board, while it has its discussion and its dialogue in camera, publishes its minutes 30 days after the meeting. That's an important feature, I would suggest, in terms of continuity.
The other thing, too, is that the chair of that working group reports its recommendations to the Board of Internal Economy, and that report takes place in public. That discussion also takes place in public.
I believe there are many additional features, or there have been many improvements, I will say, in terms of transparency and public reporting. Obviously, appearing before this committee creates a public record in terms of continuity that is transmitted from successive committees and continues from parliament to parliament and session to session.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
My other question has to do with the changing environment in terms of how people will commute to the Hill.
I drive from Kingston. I drive an electric car. When I get here, I plug it in. When I started doing that four years ago, there was always availability. Now I'm finding that when I show up here, there's no availability.
We also know that there's a government mandate or policy to have no more fossil fuel...or that all cars must be net zero by 2035. What are we doing in terms of making sure that we're going to be providing for the change in vehicular traffic that comes to the Hill?
12:50 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Parliamentary Infrastructure Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
We'll work hand in hand with the Senate and the House of Commons on determining the requirements for electric charging stations, for example, and then, as part of the long-term vision and plan, develop the strategies to put that in place. That is an important comment, and as far as getting consolidated goes, we wouldn't get out ahead of you and start putting infrastructure on the Hill without working closely with the House and with the Senate as well. Developing those requirements and putting that in place is important. You're quite right.
We've done a lot of work with the parliamentary partners around what parking of the future should look like. When you look 50 years ahead, it's challenging to project, and it's difficult to make some of those choices now, there's no question about that, but we're doing an update to the long-term vision and plan at this point, which is about a gradual transition for the precinct so that it can work today and is also moving towards tomorrow, if you will.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
I was just going to say I didn't give you the one-minute warning like I have for everyone else. Would you like a quick word? Sorry about that.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Thank you. I appreciate that.
We have come to just five minutes left in the PROC committee. I want to thank the witnesses for being here. There is a bit of work that we've asked of you in order to report back to committee, so we look forward to that information. The clerk, committees members and I will be working to ensure that we can find a time for representatives of each party to come and look at the status of West Block when public health guidelines permit. We hope to have you back after that time for any other questions or comments that we might have.
We appreciate your time and efforts, and we really want to say thank you for extending your time with us today and being so kind to do it on last-minute notice.
Do any of you—Mr. Wright, Mr. Patrice, Ms. Garrett or Mr. Aubé—have any comments, really quickly?
12:55 p.m.
Deputy Clerk, Administration
Thank you very much for this opportunity to appear before you.
12:55 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Parliamentary Infrastructure Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
Thank you.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Excellent. Have yourselves a great day.
I will be wrapping the meeting up right on time today, but while all members are here, there were two budgets that were shared around by the clerk with all members of the PROC committee. This does not require a motion. There will be a whole budget that will require a motion, but this just requires an approval so that the clerk can continue to do the work that he and the team do to support us as PROC members.
Are there any concerns with the budgets that were shared?
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
12:55 p.m.
NDP
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
I see that Mrs. DeBellefeuille is signalling that she also has no concerns.
Do members of the Liberal Party have any concerns? I see that they don't.
Excellent.
Mr. Clerk, you seem to have approval to continue to do your work.
We will see everyone on Thursday for our next PROC meeting. Please keep well and safe.
Have a good day everyone and see you next time.
The meeting is adjourned.
