Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to thank the committee for the invitation to appear today on the question of privilege raised by the member for Acadie—Bathurst regarding the free movement of members within the parliamentary precinct. I'm accompanied by Mr. Kevin Vickers, Ser

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Ms. Latendresse, I would say that the Sergeant-at-Arms and the Assistant Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms have been working hard for a very long time to ensure that our partners understand how important it is that parliamentarians have access to Parliament Hill. That being said, the Hous

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The Sergeant-at-Arms and the Assistant Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms are doing their best to work on that with the partners. I would like to point out that our relations with our partners are great. We work very well together. We do our best to work well together at all the events. How

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I can get those numbers for you. I don't have them with me today.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There are several.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes indeed, Ms. Latendresse, steps were taken over two years ago to begin to prepare the House for that. Our carpenters have managed to develop, with great imagination I might add, a proposal that was submitted to the Board of Internal Economy, and accepted. The new seats will t

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Lamoureux, I would just add that because of the announcement made by the Speaker on Tuesday regarding a unified force, much needs to be worked out with our colleagues on the Senate side. We're planning at an administrative level to meet and discuss those kinds of details, fin

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That is correct. Those funds will allow staff to begin to prepare, which includes site visits, for example.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  With regard to your question about whether the project is on time, Mr. Lukiwski, right now we're looking at 2018, which is on schedule. Of course, Public Works is the main manager of the project. We work in close partnership with them. We have a staff of people who are dedicated

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm not in a position to really answer that question. This is properly directed to Public Works as the main driver for the renovations.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If I can just add to that, I think it's important to note that the handover date of the building by Public Works to the House of Commons doesn't mean that's the occupancy date. We need to do a lot of work leading up to the actual occupancy, whether it is a fit-up or a final corre

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. I'm glad to be here this morning. I have a short statement, and then I'll be happy to take your questions. It's a pleasure for me to be here to provide you with assistance as you consider parliamentary reform initiatives that

Procedure and House Affairs committee  As I understand it, it's primarily a debating chamber in the jurisdictions that employ that method. It's not too dissimilar from a committee of the whole, for those members who are familiar with that forum. We could certainly do more research for the committee on that point, bu

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I don't believe they're televised in Britain or Australia, but we can check on that.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We can tackle electronic voting in two ways. First, assuming that members are present and we have electronic voting, there are many examples of how that can be done. Many jurisdictions employ it. None is perfect, but if you're talking about saving time, it can permit the taking o