Human Resources Committee on May 11th, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you.

Colleagues, the committee will now proceed to consideration of matters related to committee business. I want to remind you that we we are in public and not in camera.

First and foremost, I want to thank you for submitting your prioritized lists of witnesses for the seniors study. They have been received, and the clerk is working on inviting our first panel for tomorrow, I believe.

You have been sent and you should have before you, a budget for the seniors study. It has been circulated, and I would now like to entertain a motion for its approval. The budget is for $4,300, primarily for headsets and phone lines for witnesses.

Can we have a motion for approval of the budget for the seniors study? Would anyone care to move it?

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

I'll move it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Ms. Chabot.

Is there any discussion?

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you, Chair.

It's not that I'm opposed to the budget, but I know that, in terms of expert witnesses, our team proposed having indigenous elders come. I am wondering if we could add on to the budget, tobacco and a small honorarium, as this is customary in our communities—if everybody is comfortable with that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

First of all, I think it would be in order to allow for that.

The only question I have, and I'm going to direct it to the clerk, is whether we believe that $4,300 would be sufficient to allow for that or whether we should increase it a little bit.

Madam Clerk, would you like to comment on that? I just want to know if there's enough flex to allow for it.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Danielle Widmer]

I will ask the logistics officer and I can come back to the committee with a more direct answer on that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Ms. Gazan, to err on the side of caution, I think it would be in order to say $4,500. I presume that would cover it. Are you okay with that?

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Yes. It's for tobacco and just a small honorarium.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

I'm not sure about honorariums—

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

I don't know the list of witnesses yet, so it's hard for me to say that, but....

[The Clerk]

Mr. Chair, I could come back to the committee and resubmit a new budget once I speak to the logistics officer about the subject.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

I take your guidance on whether we are able to do an honorarium. Let's table the budget for now and our clerk will get back to us on it and we'll consider it at our next meeting. They are fair questions and they deserve to be answered before we vote on it.

The second item—

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Chair, I have a question about the budget.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Ms. Dancho, go ahead.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

I have a small question about the working meals. It says $250. I don't believe any MPs are there, so is that just for the staff? I'm wondering who that food is for.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

My interpretation is that if anyone shows up to a meeting in person, a meal is served, but I will also defer that to the clerk to see if I guessed correctly.

[The Clerk]

We had added one working meal. If there are no members, the money will not be used. It is included in the budget just in case.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

I think the idea here is to try to plan for every exigency so we don't have to come back to the committee for further approval.

I trust that answers your question, Ms. Dancho.

Ms. Chabot, you have the floor.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have a question about the budget. With what you have added, out of caution, a $4,500 budget is fine with me. I think it's minimal. If we compare it to what it costs when we are physically present, the budgets are very different.

My question is about the witnesses. We have invited a coalition of seniors representing six organizations. If this coalition comes, there would be three witnesses. Is there an additional cost for another headset? If so, how to plan for it? Will the budget cover that, if required?

It's a technical question, but I just want to make sure they would not be refused because of a budget shortfall.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

I believe there's enough to cover that.

Do you have any comments, Madam Clerk?

[The Clerk]

Usually, there are two witnesses per organization; however, when there's a request for a third witness, the chair simply decides and makes sure that the budget includes this expense. For virtual meetings, the chair decides and informs me that we will need three headsets for the witnesses.

So it's pretty straightforward.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Yes, Ms. Chabot.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Can you handle that then? Because I have a question about our agenda. We could deal with it later. Do you want to finish with financial matters first?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Yes, that's right. For the budget, I have two other things to mention.

Do you have something too?

Okay, go ahead.