Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson introduced Bill S-242, An Act to amend the Radiocommunication Act.

(Bill read first time.)

Senator Patterson: Thank you, Senator Marwah. I would just remind you and note that our former colleague Senator Griffin asked you on February 10, 2021, about reallocating some of the $5.5 million in savings — born from the decrease in travel as a result of the pandemic — to support additional staff and technology infrastructure. On May 25, 2021, she asked you about training new staff to support our sittings and committee meetings.

I know you’ve said that sometimes Internal Economy is constrained by not having a mandate or by supply-side issues, but we have savings of over $5 million. Have you been able to make some progress on utilizing this money to solve these problems of which we all are so keenly aware?

Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Honourable senators, my question is for the Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration. Senator Marwah, as the Senate considers extending the hybrid motion — and we all know we have a motion now before us which I understand is endorsed by leadership to extend the hybrid sessions to the end of April — I’m concerned that the reality is that, due to the pressures of the hybrid format on Senate human resources, Senate committees remain seriously under-resourced.

You’re the chair of an important committee, so you would know very well that many committees have found it difficult to meet, some waiting weeks even to have an organizational meeting. Other committees are having difficulty fitting in all the studies and important work they want to move forward into the schedule of one meeting per week that we currently have to work with under the hybrid format.

Government legislation continues to take precedence at the cost of Senate public bills, special issues, hearings and studies that, in my opinion, form the real strength of Senate committees. We’ve lost our flexibility to extend Senate hearings if clause‑by‑clause consideration goes long or to have longer meetings if we need to hear from multiple witnesses integral to a bill’s consideration.

Senator, is your committee looking at options to increase the availability of resources, including interpreters? I understand that there are no fewer than 10 companies in Ottawa that provide translation services, but we also need technology and camera operators, committee staff and so forth to enable us to resume our regular meeting schedules if hybrid settings continue.