House committee travel grounded as some Liberal chairs blame Conservatives

Less than a dozen House committee trips have taken place since the start of the current Parliament, and a handful of Liberal committee chairs are placing the blame on Conservative discord. Only 11 committee trips have taken place since November 2021, despite the subcommittee responsible for approving travel budgets having given its blessing to 60 excursions. Standing committees need to both have their travel budgets approved by the Liaison Committee's Subcommittee on Committee Budgets (SBLI)—composed of four Liberal and two Conservative MPs—and get authorization to travel from the House of Commons, which, in practice, is done through unanimous consent, meaning any one party can halt travel from taking place. A motion to travel is typically moved in the House Chamber after agreement between all Whips is reached. “There’s very little travel. It gets approved by the Liaison Committee, and goes to the House, but it has to have unanimous consent, and the Conservatives and Pierre don’t believe in travel. Simple as that,” said Liberal MP Judy Sgro (Humber River-Black Creek, Ont.), who chairs SBLI and the House International Trade Committee. Sgro said when committees can’t travel, their work suffers, as they lack the knowledge that would be gained through relevant trips. Liberal MP Judy Sgro is placing the blame on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for committee travel largely not getting approved. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade “When the committees travel to wherever it is, whatever they are doing, all the committee comes back much more knowledgeable about current events what’s going on,” she said. The office of Conservative Whip Kerry-Lynne Findlay (South Surrey-White Rock, B.C.) declined an interview request. Agriculture Committee chair and Liberal MP Kody Blois (Kings-Hants, N.S.) also placed the blame for the lack of committee travel on the Conservatives. “It is simple: the Conservatives are not granting permission for committee travel in many circumstances,” he said in an email, remarking that due to the blocked travel, his committee “has not wasted time on planning trips where permission would not be forthcoming for UC in the House.” The Agriculture Committee had budget approval for a single trip to attend the World Congress of Soil Science in Scotland in the summer of 2022. Blois said it's his understanding that the trip was blocked by the Bloc Québécois as they weren’t allowing travel while the House was sitting. Asked about committee travel not taking place, Bloc Whip Claude DeBellefeuille (Salaberry-Suroît, Que.) said her party hasn’t been supporting travel outside of adjournment periods. “The position of the Bloc Québécois is well known: we do not accept any committee travel planned during parliamentary weeks in order to preserve the interpretation resources essential to the work of the House,” she said in a French statement. Most committees take parliamentary interpreters on the road with them when they travel. Neither Liberal Whip Steven MacKinnon (Gatineau, Que.) nor NDP Whip Rachel Blaney (North Island-Powell River, B.C.) responded to interview requests before publication deadline. Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet, centre, with Bloc MPs Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, left, Alain Therrin, and Claude DeBellefeuille. The Bloc Québécois caucus objects to committee travel taking place while Parliament is sitting, says DeBellefeuille. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Finance Committee chair and Liberal MP Peter Fonesca (Mississauga East-Cooksville, Ont.) said travel has not happened because there hasn’t been consensus from all parties, but wouldn’t pinpoint which party is to blame. “A party may not be willing to allow for travel to happen, and that is what happened,” Fonseca told The Hill Times. “There are those that feel that maybe travel, for whatever reason, is not merited and are not willing to allow travel to happen.” The Finance Committee received the House’s blessing and was able to conduct a trip to the Maritimes and another throughout the rest of Canada this fall for its pre-budget consultations, but two previous requests for trips related to pre-budget consultations in the fall of 2022 and a planned trip to France for the summer or fall of 2023 for its study of the 21st century world economy were rebuffed. Fonseca said the travel that did occur allowed the committee to hear from witnesses it wouldn’t have been able to if it had only held meetings in Ottawa. “It makes a big difference when you are in a province or a region at the local level to be there at the table and hear from individuals that otherwise would not be in front of a finance parliamentary committee,” he said, remarking that travel can add “meat” to reports with on-the-ground experience. Fonseca added that parliamentary trips also bring Parliamentarians together to focus on issues away from the political bubble of Ottawa and from partisan pressures. Committee travel was barred until March 2022 due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the House of Commons in 2020. No committee trips took place in the 43rd Parliament as the SBLI didn’t form until travel had already shut down. During the 42nd Parliament, a Liberal majority, the House gave unanimous consent to authorize 79 trips, while during the 41st Parliament, a Conservative majority, 34 trips were authorized. During the last non-pandemic-affected minority Parliament—lasting from 2008 to 2011—63 committee trips were authorized. While most House committees hoping to travel have been grounded in Ottawa, more MPs have taken up sponsored travel opportunities. Since the beginning of the 44th Parliament, 131 sponsored trips have been taken by 86 MPs, according to disclosures to the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. The committee travel that has been approved so far this Parliament includes trips overseas by the Defence Committee (to Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and the United Kingdom) and the Foreign Affairs Committee (to Belgium, Finland, Sweden, and Poland) as part of their respective studies related to the war in Ukraine, both of which occurred earlier this year. The International Trade Committee was allowed to travel to Washington, D.C., for its study on trade impacts of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 last spring. The Defence Committee also travelled in the fall of 2022 to the American national capital, as well as to Colorado Springs, Colo., for its study on operational readiness. Rounding out travel abroad, the Industry and Technology Committee travelled to Finland to attend the World Summit of Committees of the Future in 2022. Domestically, the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee visited the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in the winter of 2023 for its study on Arctic security. The Public Accounts Committee also travelled to Yukon to attend a conference. The Transport Committee travelled across Canada, from the Atlantic to British Columbia, for its study on large port expansion during the same adjournment period. The Status of Women Committee also travelled across Canada in the spring of 2023 for its study on human trafficking of women, girls, and gender diverse people. This past June, it took Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen (Kingston and the Islands, Ont.) two tries to get unanimous consent from the House for three planned committee trips by the Finance and Public Accounts committees, despite already getting approval from all whips. “I have in my possession ... the email correspondence between the whips' offices. They are all time-stamped prior to the last time I moved it,” Gerretsen told the Chamber. The House approved a 12th trip for the Ethics Committee to travel to Denver, Colo., for its study on facial recognition technology, but it never took place. Other committees have had numerous trips fail to gain House approval, despite getting budget approval. Liberal MP Peter Fonseca says committee travel provides 'meat' to reports, allowing Parliamentarians to speak to witnesses that wouldn't typically be testifying in Ottawa. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade The International Trade Committee had three trips to Asia granted budget approval, but did not receive House sanction. The Committee on Fisheries and Oceans had the Sisyphean experience of getting budget approval for six separate trips, none of which got the House’s support. The Official Languages Committee tried twice, with no success, to get approval to travel to Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, England, and the Republic of Ireland for its study on supporting minority language communities. The Justice Committee has had three planned and budgeted trips to Switzerland and the Netherlands for its study on international law accountability mechanisms fail to get House consent to go ahead. Science and Research Committee chair and Liberal MP Lloyd Longfield (Guelph, Ont.) said he was advised that no travel is being approved by involved parties. His committee got travel budget approval for two cross-Canada trips, but did not get House approval. Veterans Affairs Committee chair and Liberal MP Emmanuel Dubourg (Bourassa, Que.) said his committee’s travel plans this year fell apart due to scheduling issues. A cross-Canada trip, which got travel budget approval, was supposed to be part of the committee's study on women veterans, and was envisioned as a way for witnesses to feel more comfortable speaking with the committee away from the spotlight of Parliament Hill. “It was difficult because summertime was coming and some members were not really willing to travel anymore, so they agreed to stop that at the time,” Dubourg said. nmoss@hilltimes.com The Hill Times House committees that got travel authority in the 44th Parliament CommitteeBudgetLocationWhen?Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics Committee*$42,689.38United StatesFall of 2022Industry and Technology Committee$58,295.06FinlandFall of 2022National Defence Committee$90,801.77United StatesFall of 2022Foreign Affairs Committee$244,088.67Belgium, Finland, Sweden, and PolandWinter of 2023Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee$178,080.40CanadaWinter of 2023Transport, Infrastructure, and Communities Committee$114,984.20CanadaWinter of 2023International Trade Committee$49,883.67United StatesSpring of 2023Status of Women Committee$73,687.80CanadaSpring of 2023Finance Committee$112,529.84CanadaFall of 2023Finance Committee$164,934.24CanadaFall of 2023Public Accounts Committee$42,384.80CanadaSummer of 2023National Defence Committee$264,804.58Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and United KingdomSummer or Fall of 2023*Approved committee trip was not taken

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House committee travel grounded as some Liberal chairs blame Conservatives

Only 11 out of 60 budgeted committee trips have gone ahead since the start of the current Parliament.

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