January 24, 2024 House of Assembly Management Commission No. 94
The Management Commission met at 9:30 a.m. in the House of Assembly Committee Room/Video Conference.
SPEAKER (Warr): Good morning.
I call the meeting to order, but before we proceed with our business, I want to take a few moments of remembrance and reflection this morning to honour our fellow MHA, colleague and good friend, the hon. Derrick Bragg, Member of the District of Fogo Island - Cape Freels, who passed away earlier this week.
Minister Bragg served the people of this province and the residents of Fogo Island - Cape Freels, as an MHA, honourably and with great integrity since November of 2015. His presence will be missed by all Members of the House, in particular, his sense of humour and wit.
We send our sincere condolences to his wife, Beverly; daughter, Allison; his family and friends; and to the people of his district.
I'd ask Members of the House Management Commission to introduce themselves.
J. HOGAN: John Hogan, MHA, Windsor Lake.
L. DEMPSTER: Lisa Dempster, MHA, Cartwright - L'Anse au Clair.
C. PARDY: Craig Pardy, MHA, the District of Bonavista.
B. PETTEN: Barry Petten, MHA, Conception Bay South.
SPEAKER: I'm Brian Warr. My district is Baie Verte - Green Bay, but I'll be sitting in as Chair this morning as the Speaker is presently out of the province.
The first agenda item is the Approval of Minutes. Included in today's briefing materials is the draft minutes of the meetings held on November 1, November 8 and November 30 of 2023, and January 10, 2024.
Further, as required under the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act, I'm advising of decisions taken at in camera meetings on those dates. For the information of the public, the minutes from these in camera meetings will be posted on the House of Assembly website following their approval day.
Are there any comments or questions from the Members before I call for a motion to approve the minutes?
Hearing none, I'd entertain a motion to approve the minutes of those particular meetings.
SPEAKER: Moved by MHA Petten.
Seconder?
MHA Hogan.
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
SPEAKER: Motion passed.
On motion, minutes adopted as circulated.
SPEAKER: The next agenda is the Speaker's Report – Rulings on Allowance Use. Section 24 of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act outlines the process for rulings on allowance use. An act gives the Speaker authority to make rulings where expenditures of Members have been rejected for payment, provided the ruling is distributed to and receives concurrence of Management Commission.
The report detailing all such rulings for the period ending today 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?
Hearing none, the next agenda item is also reporting an 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 September 30, 2023, are included in the briefing packages for reporting purposes. Again, no decision is required.
I'd ask for any questions, any issues before we move to the next agenda item.
Minister Hogan.
J. HOGAN: Just one question – I think I'm talking about the right part of the papers here – the biggest chunk really in being over budget was the Privacy Commissioner, $250-odd thousand in salaries. Is that what we agreed to transfer to cover that off earlier, was it this week or last week?
CLERK (Hawley George): Yes, there were overages there because of the reclassifications in that office.
J. HOGAN: Yes, okay.
CLERK: So yes, absolutely, and that piece will be brought back for reporting purposes at the next meeting.
J. HOGAN: So that 250 will be covered off in terms of –?
CLERK: Yes, that's right. Yes, exactly.
J. HOGAN: From savings somewhere else?
CLERK: From savings somewhere else, exactly. (Inaudible) –
J. HOGAN: I understand. I sent an email about that; I just had some questions –
CLERK: That's right, yeah. That's what we discussed earlier this week.
J. HOGAN: Okay, thanks.
SPEAKER: Any further comments or questions?
Again, no decision is required.
The next agenda item is a request for transfer of funds by the Office of the Commissioner for Legislative Standards to cover unbudgeted travel expenditures of $400 to reimburse an outstanding travel claim.
The statutory offices of the Commissioner for Legislative Standards and the Chief Electoral Officer have historically been held by the same individual operating under one budget; however, in 2022, the roles were separated and have been held in that manner since that time.
When budget 2022-23 was reviewed and approved by the Management Commission, it was noted that a notional amount was estimated for operating of the Office of the Commissioner for Legislative Standards and that the budget Estimates would be rightsized in the next fiscal year pending analysis of actual expenditures of that office.
Savings have been identified in the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer Activity identified due to the historical combination of the OCEO and the CLS roles.
Are there any questions or comments with respect to the budget transfer before I call for the motion?
The motion would read: The Commission approves the following transfer of funds from subdivision 3.1.01.02, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer – Transportation and Communications, the sum of $400 to subdivision 8.1.01.02, Office of the Commissioner for Legislative Standards – Transportation and Communications, again in the amount of $400.
Is there a mover for that motion?
Moved by MHA Petten; seconded by MHA Hogan.
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
SPEAKER: Motion is approved.
With that, that's the end of our meeting and I'd certainly call for a motion to adjourn.
Moved by MHA Dempster; seconded by MHA Pardy.
Thank you.
On motion, meeting adjourned.