Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Before we begin, I'd like to acknowledge that I am speaking from the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
With me are senior officials from the Treasury Board of Canada, notably, Roch Huppé, comptroller general of Canada, and Catherine Luelo, chief information officer of Canada.
Service contracts are widely used by governments and private organizations in Canada and around the world. They're generally used to complement the work of Canada's professional public service.
Contractual services may be used to provide specific types of expertise, to deal with unexpected fluctuations in the workload, or to obtain independent opinions pertaining to projects.
Since 2011, spending on professional services as a percentage of total government expenditures has largely remained the same. Compared to spending on the public service, the use of professional services has also remained relatively consistent since 2011.
Every year, there are hundreds of thousands of contracts for everything from pencils and vehicles to professional services. Given this volume, there are controls throughout government, which start in departments and flow all the way up to the Treasury Board depending on value, complexity and risk.
Basically, these control measures are set out in the Treasury Board Directive on the Management of Procurement.
Although the decision to acquire goods and services rests with each deputy minister, the directive spells out the expectations and requirements to ensure that government procurement is equitable, open and transparent.
In each department, a senior official is responsible for procurement. This official establishes, implements and maintains a framework for the processes, systems and controls.
Departments must maintain the integrity of the process and protect it from fraud; define the intended outcomes; get the best value, including a fair price; and ensure what's delivered meets the quality, standards and service levels in the contract. Departments are only authorized to enter into contracts up to specific thresholds. Any contracts that exceed them require Treasury Board approval. Departments and agencies publicly disclose contracts over $10,000. Actual expenditures are reported annually in the public accounts. We have a responsibility, which we take very seriously, to ensure spending remains prudent and delivers results.
Accordingly, at the request of thePrime Minister, Minister Jaczek and I are overseeing a review of all procurements with McKinsey.
TBS is requiring departments' internal audit teams to review their contracts with McKinsey to assess if the contracts complied with Treasury Board policy and departmental internal control frameworks. TBS will review these assessments and undertake corrective actions if there are issues. We are also requesting that Crown corporations, which are not subject to Treasury Board contracting requirements, conduct similar reviews. As an additional level of verification, we have asked the procurement ombudsman to provide a third party assessment of compliance with contracting rules.
Following these reviews, TBS will see if there are opportunities to enhance the directive on the management of procurement—for example, by providing guidance to departments to support procurement decisions—and we look forward to considering any recommendations coming from this committee.
Procurement controls in Canada are administered by dedicated public servants, who have done effective work at various levels of government. However, if improvements are needed, we will have to introduce them.
I'll be happy now to answer any questions committee members may have.
