September 22, 2021
House of Assembly Management Commission
No. 82
The
Management Commission met at 9:40 a.m. via video conference.
SPEAKER (Warr):
Good morning, and we'll call the meeting to order and welcome Members and staff
of the Management Commission.
Before
we start, I'd like to introduce the Members of the Commission and staff present
for the meeting today: the hon. Steve Crocker, Government House Leader; Mr.
Barry Petten, Opposition House Leader; Ms. Helen Conway Ottenheimer, Member for
Harbour Main; the hon. Lisa Dempster, Member for Cartwright - L'Anse au Clair;
Mr. Jim Dinn, Member for St. John's Centre; Mr. Paul Pike, Member for Burin -
Grand Bank; Ms. Sandra Barnes, Clerk and secretary to the Commission; Ms. Kim
Hawley George, Law Clerk and acting Clerk Assistant; and Ms. Bobbi Russell,
policy and communications officer.
My name
is Brian Warr, Deputy Speaker of the House, and I will be chairing today's
meeting in the absence of Speaker Bennett.
The
first agenda item is the approval of the minutes. Draft minutes of the
Commission meetings held on May 12 and May 26, 2021, require the approval of the
Management Commission. Are there any comments or questions before I call the
motion to approve the minutes?
Looking
for a mover to recommend the motion that the minutes of the Commission meetings
held on May 12 and May 26, 2021, are approved as read.
Mover?
MHA Dempster, moving.
Second?
I'm splitting screens here, so …
We have
a seconder?
B. RUSSELL:
I think Mr. Pike has his hand raised there, Mr. Speaker.
SPEAKER:
MHA Pike.
All
those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay.'
Motion
carried.
On
motion, minutes adopted as circulated.
SPEAKER:
The second item on the
agenda is the Speaker's report ruling on allowance use. The process for rulings
on allowance use as outlined in section 24 of the
House of Assembly, Accountability,
Integrity and Administration Act gives authority for the Speaker to make
rulings when expenditures of Members have been rejected for payment, providing
that the ruling is distributed to and receives concurrence of the Management
Commission.
The
report detailing all such rulings for the period ending September 17, 2021, has
been circulated to the Commission with their briefing package and is posted on
the House of Assembly website as part of the briefing package for today's
meeting. This item is for reporting purposes only.
Are
there any questions before we move to the next agenda item? Any questions?
Seeing
none, the next item on the agenda is the Clerk's report, the authorizations for
furniture and equipment.
The
Standard Office Allocation Package for Members delegates authority to the Clerk
to preapprove expenditures for additional furniture and equipment to a maximum
of $1,000 per item, with the Clerk to report all such approvals at a subsequent
meeting of the Management Commission.
The
report provided in the briefing packages details the approvals of the Clerk
under this authority up to September 17, 2021. This item is also for reporting
purposes only.
Are
there any questions before we move to the next agenda item? Any questions?
Seeing
none, the next agenda item is your financial reports. This is also a reporting
item to the Commission.
The
House of Assembly Accountability,
Integrity and Administration Act states that the Commission must “regularly,
and at least quarterly, review the financial performance of the House of
Assembly as well as the actual expenditures of members compared with approved
allocations ….”
Financial reports and Members' expense reports for the period ending March 31
are included in the package briefing.
Are
there any questions on this particular item?
I'm not
seeing anyone. We'll move to the next agenda item: Caucus Operational Funding
Grant reports, year ending March 31, 2021.
The
Caucus Operational Funding Grants Policy requires each caucus, the Office of the
Speaker and independent Members to submit to the Management Commission a report
detailing the expenditures on the use of this allocation within 90 days after
the end of each fiscal year. In accordance with the policy, reports detailing
expenditures for the period of April 1, 2020, to January 15, 2021, have been
received and are included in the briefing package.
The
reports presented to the Commission for this fiscal year end on January 15,
2021, due to the dissolution of the 49th General Assembly. Due to timing of the
release of the general election results on March 27, 2021, processing for the
Caucus Operational Funding Grant for the 50th General Assembly was not completed
by the end of the fiscal year on March 31.
Again,
this item is for reporting purposes only. Are there any questions? Seeing none.
Budget
Transfers Report, year ending March 31, 2021. The Transfer of Funds Policy
requires only certain budget transfers to be approved by the Commission.
However, to ensure transparency, the policy requires all transfers of funds
processed during a fiscal year to be reported to the Commission. In accordance
with the policy, all budget transfers processed during the fiscal year ending
31st of March 2021 are included in the briefing package. This item, again, is
for reporting purposes only. Are there any questions?
Seeing
none, we'll move to the audited financial information, year ending March 31,
2020. The House of Assembly
Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act requires an annual audit of
the accounts of the House of Assembly and statutory offices by the auditor
appointed by the Commission. The act states that the Audit Committee must review
the audited financial information, the audited report and any recommendations
with the auditor and recommend their approval to the Management Commission.
A
recommendation for approval of the audited financial statements for the year
ending March 31, 2020, was delayed coming forward from the Audit Committee due
to changes in the membership of the Committee in the fall of 2020. It was
further delayed, as the Committee was unable to meet during the dissolution
period between the 49th and 50th General Assemblies, and did not meet to review
the statements and recommend their approval until July 2021.
In
correspondence dated September 16, 2021, the Audit Committee recommends that the
Commission approve and sign the audited financial information for the House of
Assembly and statutory offices for the fiscal year ending 31st of March 2020.
Are
there any questions or comments with respect to the audited financial
information before we call for a motion to approve? Seeing none. I'd certainly
entertain a motion: The Commission approves the audited financial information
for April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, for the House of Assembly and statutory
offices as recommended by the Audit Committee.
Can I
have a mover for that motion, please?
L. DEMPSTER:
Mr. Warr, I move.
SPEAKER:
Moved by Minister Dempster.
Seconder?
Again,
I'm splitting screens so I'm having to look.
Can you
help me out, Bobbi? I need a seconder for that motion.
B. RUSSELL:
Mr. Petten, I believe.
SPEAKER:
Mr. Petten? Thank you, MHA
Petten.
All
those in favour of the motion?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
SPEAKER:
Those against?
Carried.
This
concludes the agenda for today's meeting. I certainly thank Members and staff
for their attendance.
I'd
entertain a motion to adjourn.
Ms.
Conway Ottenheimer.
Seconder?
B. RUSSELL:
Mr. Dinn, I believe, raised his hand.
SPEAKER:
Thank you.
All
those in favour?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
SPEAKER:
Motion carried.
Anyway,
I certainly, again, appreciate your time today in reviewing the details of our
agenda and I certainly look forward to our next meeting.
Before
we go, Bobbi or Sandra, Kim, does anybody have any questions with regard to the
next meeting? Anything at all?
B. RUSSELL:
No.
There's
a briefing scheduled for Monday – hold on a second now; I'll pull up my
calendar. A meeting notice was sent out for that. On Monday, October 4, at 9:30
a.m. there's a technical briefing on constituency assistant matters. It's not a
meeting, but the next session. That should be in your calendars. I sent out a
Webex invite for that.
SPEAKER:
Okay.
Have a
great day, everyone.
CLERK (Barnes):
Have a good day, everyone.
SPEAKER:
Okay. Thank you.
On
motion, meeting adjourned.