A Canadian flag flies on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Aug. 2, 2015. The most secretive committee of Parliament has finally opened its doors – while still refusing to discuss in public sensitive issues such as rising security costs.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters
The most secretive committee of Parliament has finally opened its doors – while still refusing to discuss in public sensitive issues such as rising security costs.
The all-party board of internal economy (BOIE), which oversees spending in the House of Commons, has long sat behind closed doors to make delicate decisions that affected the fate of the chamber and MPs.
Under legislation adopted in June, the meetings of the committee will be conducted in public, with the first such open gathering occurring on Thursday.
"You got to see the excitement that happens at board meetings," Conservative MP Mark Strahl said with a smile after the one-hour meeting had finished. "It's important work and it's good that it's open to the public."
The meeting started with a presentation on the ambitious plans to renovate Parliament Hill, as the House of Commons is set to move into a brand new interim chamber in the nearby West Block building next summer. According to senior officials at Public Services and Procurement Canada, the renovations are on track and on budget, with the riskier elements of the project having already been completed.
However, a presentation on the House budget was interrupted when Speaker Geoff Regan said the issue of rising security costs for Parliament could only be discussed in-camera.
Liberal House Leader Bardish Chagger said after the meeting that the BOIE will still need to discuss some issues in private, with the legislation having carved out exceptions for security, employment, staff relations or tenders.
"I believe that most conversations will take place in public, which is the intention of opening up BOIE, and very limited reasons why they wouldn't," she said.
In the past, meetings of the BOIE were only publicized after the fact. In the future, Ms. Chagger said, the public "will always know when BOIE is meeting."
There have long been calls to open up the meetings of the committee, which has been accused in the past of covering up potential scandals or engaging in partisan politics behind closed doors.
The NDP criticized the committee for acting like a "kangaroo court" in the last Parliament, over a series of disputes with other parties involving spending on advertising and staff.