This is the second report for the 2018-19 fiscal year. Given the cumulative nature of the report and the ongoing work of committees, updates to the information about expenditures may result in minor discrepancies between this report and the previous report. For example, invoices for committee travel received after the previous report was finalized could only be included in this report, with the expenditures updated accordingly. In other cases, expenditures may have been reallocated to a different budget. For example, and as permitted by the Liaison Committee, a committee may have used its operational budget as interim funding for a study. Following budgetary approval for the study, those expenditures would be reallocated to the study budget.
In this report, information about each committee’s activities and expenditures is presented through a combination of descriptive text and tables containing statistical and financial information. The section for each committee includes a short overview of committee activities, tables on committee expenditures, travel expenditures (if applicable) and statistical information on the number of committee meetings, witnesses and reports. This “Note to Reader” provides contextual information to assist the reader in interpreting the information in each table.
The “Expenditures” table summarizes committee expenditures for the period from April 1 to December 31, 2018. Committee studies are listed in chronological order. Expenditures are broken down by “Witness Expenses”, “Video Conferences” and “Other”. “Other” includes expenditures such as working meals, reports, professional services, audio-visual equipment and minor miscellaneous expenses. The row “Operational Budget” contains expenditures for which no separate funding request was made in relation to a study or an activity of a committee. Differences in totals are due to rounding.
The “Travel Expenditures” table summarizes committee travel expenditures for the period from April 1 to December 31, 2018. Expenditures are broken down by “Transportation”, “Accommodation”, “Per Diems” and “Other”. “Other” includes expenditures such as audio-visual equipment, meeting rooms, excess baggage fees, passport and visa processing, conference fees and other minor miscellaneous expenses. This table is only included for committees that incurred travel expenses in the specified period. If a trip was cancelled, this is noted instead of dates of travel. Expenses for cancelled travel include only those expenses incurred prior to cancellation that could not be reimbursed in kind or made available as credits for future travel, including travel by other committees. Differences in totals are due to rounding.
The “Meetings, Witnesses and Reports” table contains information about
committee meetings, witnesses and reports for the period from April 1 to December 31, 2018.
In addition to the total number of committee meetings in this period, the table
identifies the number of committee meetings that were televised (audio or video
of public meetings is available on an archival basis through the Committees
website), the number of meetings where videoconferencing technology was used to
allow the committee to hear from witnesses and the number of meetings video
recorded by members of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery. Statistics for
the standing committee and, if applicable, each of its subcommittees, are
presented in separate rows. In
practice, most committees create a subcommittee on agenda and procedure,
commonly referred to as a “steering committee”, to help them plan their work.
The establishment of subcommittees is usually designed to relieve parliamentary
committees of planning and administrative tasks or to address important issues
relating to their mandate. Subcommittees
are not empowered to report to the House; they only present reports to their
Standing Committee.