Procedure and House Affairs Committee on April 30th, 2026

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

I don't personally have any information.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Is that something the Board of Internal Economy is looking into?

[Eric Janse]

It was raised at the last board meeting, and it will be coming back to the next board meeting.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Okay.

As I understand it, Mr. Barrett has asked for the Board of Internal Economy to address the situation. What powers does the board have? What remedies can the board impose?

[Eric Janse]

I'll pass that one off to our law clerk, Michel Bédard.

[Michel Bédard, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, House of Commons]

The Board of Internal Economy is in charge of financial administrative affairs for the House of Commons and its members. It doesn't have the power to impose fines or to impose punishments, but it can take measures within its traditions. The board can always refer matters to another authority if it feels that the matter needs to be addressed.

In similar cases in the past, when there have been reimbursements of expenses that have been asked for by the board, usually the reimbursements sufficed and the board did not take any further measures.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

On that last point, has the board ever asked for a member to make a repayment exceeding the fair market value of resources inappropriately used?

[Michel Bédard]

When the administration briefed BOIE on the appropriate measures that would be sufficient to address an expenditure that was not consistent with the bylaw, the reimbursement was based on an assessment that was made, pursuant to fair market value.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

I would observe in closing that Ms. Idlout claims these charges were made in error. That assertion simply doesn't add up, given the fact that there was a $1,380 claim that she would have had to personally approve. She may have also personally approved the three other purchases.

She knew exactly what she was doing. She signed off on the claim. She billed taxpayers and thought she could get away with it. It was only after she got caught that she turned around and paid the money back. Her assertion bears no credibility.

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

Thank you very much, Mr. Cooper.

We'll now turn to Madame Brière.

Ms. Brière, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good morning, gentlemen. Thank you for being here this morning and for all the work you do at every level, both to ensure our safety and to keep the House running smoothly.

Mr. Speaker, how do this year’s budget priorities reflect the evolving risks facing Parliament, particularly with regard to security and hybrid threats?

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

I think this is a question for Mr. Monette or Mr. Dicaire, because it concerns IT.

[Mitch Monette, Director, Parliamentary Protective Service]

I would say that this is part of the responsibilities of the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms and Institutional Security, as well as ours at the Parliamentary Protective Service.

I can discuss the security environment and then the efforts being made in general, given that we are testifying in a public hearing today.

It is clear that in our budget, particularly the most recent one, there has been an increase in funding for programs that specifically contribute to the safety of each member of Parliament on the Hill itself. We have added programs to ensure that our parliamentarians feel safe when arriving in the Parliament Hill area. We have created a program called Walk Safe, which is an escort program, to ensure that every parliamentarian approaching Parliament Hill feels completely safe.

We have also significantly increased our staffing for member training. I am pleased to announce that we recently received the keys to our new PPS training centre, for which we held a grand opening recently. This will increase our capacity to effectively train our staff and create scenarios that will allow our members to familiarize themselves with our duties.

We have also been developing an extremely robust exercise program over the past few years, in which we conduct exercises that simulate situations we might face on Parliament Hill. We are working with our partners both inside and outside the Parliament to create interoperability that will allow us to support one another in the event of an incident on the Hill.

I will now turn the floor over to Mr. Dicaire so he can tell you about what the Office of the Sergeant‑at‑Arms can do.

[Benoit Dicaire, Chief Information Officer, House of Commons]

Thank you, Mr. Monette.

I will discuss cybersecurity issues.

We are also working closely with the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms on foreign interference, as well as in partnership with national security representatives.

Cybersecurity remains a key priority for the House of Commons. Parliament remains a prime target for highly sophisticated actors. Therefore, the investments you see in what we presented a few years ago make a significant contribution to maintaining the infrastructure necessary for the secure conduct of debates in the House of Commons, as well as to the continuity of the institution’s operations, regardless of the sources of risk. Thus, these investments aim to protect Parliament and ensure the continuity of parliamentary activities.

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Thank you very much for that answer.

We are facing budget constraints. The Speaker of the House told us that you are not requesting additional funds. So how will you be able to adequately ensure security and protection on Parliament Hill without resorting to additional funds?

[Mitch Monette]

We have a fairly substantial budget that allows us to meet all our safety objectives. We have put certain programs on hold, so to speak, since we want to expand all our existing programs before considering new ones. We are satisfied with our current budget, which allows us to achieve all these objectives.

As I told you, we continue to improve our training program, as well as our exercise program. We recently added K-9 units. I don’t know if you’ve noticed recently, but this was a cost-free addition, since we’re working in collaboration with the RCMP. So, a few times a week, you can see K-9 units at the vehicle checkpoint.

[Eric Janse]

I would just like to add that, on the House of Commons side, as the Speaker mentioned in his opening remarks, we submitted a request to the Board of Internal Economy in March to secure significantly more resources for security—not only here in Ottawa on Parliament Hill, but also at constituency offices and members’ residences—as well as for cybersecurity. That has helped us a great deal.

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

Thank you so much.

I have just one point. The mics are very sensitive, so witnesses, if you're shuffling papers or talking with your hands, just be careful not to hit the mic. It can be very loud in our interpreters' ears.

We'll now go to Madame Normandin for five minutes.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

My first question concerns cybersecurity. It is therefore perhaps directed to Mr. Dicaire.

I understand that there are likely measures in place by Parliament to protect members’ data within the systems managed by Parliament. However, about ten days ago, Canada Life, the insurers for members of Parliament, was the victim of a ransomware attack.

So, I would like to hear your thoughts on how the House is able to manage the security of members of Parliament’s data, particularly when that data may be hosted by external parties.

[Benoit Dicaire]

That is an excellent question, Ms. Normandin.

We work closely with our national security partners, especially when it comes to data hosted outside the parliamentary precinct.

As for this particular incident, it affected a service procured by the Government of Canada through Treasury Board. Consequently, my colleague Ms. Evangelidis, the chief human resources officer, and I—since this is a human resources management service—are working closely with Treasury Board to understand the full extent of the impact this incident could have on members of Parliament and to take the necessary steps to respond, if needed.

That said, proactivity remains a key pillar of our cybersecurity strategy. So, we must learn from this type of attack, which occurred outside the parliamentary precinct, and we must also inform members of Parliament. We are working on an information campaign to help members better manage the repercussions of this type of incident, over which they have little control.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you. I’ll continue along the same lines.

I imagine that this type of attack is part of what will help us, through the lessons learned, determine the preventive measures that Parliament will take in the future. However, when deciding to choose an external service provider, do we conduct an analysis beforehand of its ability to withstand this type of attack, or an assessment of its cybersecurity level?

[Benoit Dicaire]

Once again, that is an excellent question, Ms. Normandin.

I can assure you that there are requirements in place, especially for House contracts. I will speak about contracts for which the House is the actual contracting authority. We have very specific requirements regarding security posture and data management. In this case, for our colleagues in the Government of Canada and the Treasury Board, these same requirements apply in the context of these contracts, where we are dealing with a large amount of data—sometimes highly sensitive—that could be provided. So, the same requirements are found in the contracts of our colleagues in the Government of Canada.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Dicaire, in his opening remarks, the Speaker spoke of remote data centres intended to ensure a form of redundancy, security, and data protection to prevent data loss.

Regarding data storage, is some or all of the data hosted within Canada rather than abroad? If not, is this something that is being considered?

Could the cost of hosting data within Canada—particularly to protect it from the U.S. CLOUD Act—represent an obstacle to hosting within Canada?

[Benoit Dicaire]

To answer your question, I’ll just provide a little context.

Operational resilience in Parliament is very important. As you know, the work currently under way on Parliament Hill represents the largest construction site in Canada at this time. It was therefore not ideal to host data on the site of such a construction project, as this entailed additional risks. Parliament’s strategy has been to build in a degree of resilience so that we can maintain certain data.

Most parliamentary data is public, and we advocate for it to be hosted in Canada. That is the requirement. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, for several reasons that I will not explain today.

Most of Parliament’s data is hosted on the parliamentary precinct campus, and the addition of the data centre we established in 2023–2024 has enabled us to respond to a variety of security risks to ensure the continuity of Parliament’s operations.

I can confirm that we advocate for hosting data in centres located in Canada and that we strive to provide the highest possible level of resilience, regardless of the circumstances.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I will save my second questions for the next speaking round.