Evidence of meeting #2 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was computers.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Audrey O'Brien  Clerk of the House of Commons, House of Commons
Louis Bard  Chief Information Officer, House of Commons
Claire Kennedy  Chief Financial Officer, House of Commons

11:15 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Joe Preston

I call this meeting to order. We are now in public.

We thank the Speaker and the Clerk of the House for coming to visit with us today. We'll start off with a statement from them.

11:15 a.m.

Kingston and the Islands Ontario

Liberal

Peter Milliken LiberalSpeaker of the House of Commons

Merci, monsieur le président.

Good morning, all members of the committee. It is an honour and a privilege to be here. Thank you for the invitation.

Today I will be presenting the House of Commons Supplementary Estimates (B) for fiscal year 2008-2009.

The proposed supplementary estimates (B) for the House of Commons total $3,981,912. I would like to stress at the outset of this discussion that all items in the House of Commons supplementary estimates (B) were previously approved by the Board of Internal Economy.

To facilitate our discussion, I will provide a brief overview of the items in the House of Commons' Supplementary Estimates (b), along three main headings: Members' and House Officers' salaries, Compensation for collective agreements; and Operational requirements.

With regard to members' and House officers' salaries, the supplementary estimates (B) allocate $1,403,000 in funding for salary adjustments in accordance with the Parliament of Canada Act. This adjustment is based on the index of the average percentage increase in base rate wages for a calendar year resulting from major settlements negotiated in the Canadian private sector. As a result, members' and House officers' salaries were increased by 3.1%, effective on April 1 of this year.

First of all, the Supplementary Estimates (B) provide $1,602,000 in funding for collective agreements for House of Commons employees. These collective agreements are for employees in the Operational Group, Technical Group, Procedural Clerks, Analysis and Reference bargaining unit and the Reporting and Text Processing Sub-group. The terms of each of the collective agreements were 2.5% per year for two years as of their effective date. There are approximately 550 employees represented by these groups, and their varied occupations include procedural clerks, editors, messengers and television technicians.

Under the theme of operational requirements, the supplementary estimates (B) provide $688,000 for information and technology needs. Funding for two projects was originally approved by the board in 2007-08. Following a change in the projects' timelines, the unused portion of the funding from 2007-08 was realigned to the supplementary estimates (B) for 2008-09 in order to complete these projects.

The first project is a computer system replacement and software upgrade for members and House officers. Funding for this project is essential, as members' and House officers' computers had reached the end of their life cycle. The project also funded the installation of the latest operating system and upgraded software for our computers.

I'd like to highlight that the Information Services group scheduled the timing of the system replacement and software upgrade for the most convenient time possible for members.

The second project is the upgrade of the House of Commons' Financial Management System. An upgrade was required in order to take advantage of the improved functionalities of the software and to help facilitate the House Administration's provision of high quality financial services to Members.

Additionally, the Board approved $298,000 for accommodation services and specialized equipment in order to support Members in fulfilling their parliamentary functions, and this amount is reflected in the Supplementary Estimates (B).

That is the conclusion of my opening remarks. The clerk and I would be happy to answer any questions that you might have arising out of these estimates.

11:20 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Joe Preston

Monsieur Proulx.

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Ms. O'Brien, for accepting our invitation to appear before the committee and provide us with some explanations.

I would simply like to verify certain expressions. In the next-to-last paragraph, you noted the following in French: “De plus, le Bureau a aussi approuvé 298,000 $ pour les services de logement et d'équipements spécialisés [...]”. Are you referring to accommodation for Members? The English version refers to “accommodation services and specialized equipment“ which is not exactly the same thing as “services de logement“.

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Peter Milliken Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON

These services apply mostly to Mr. Fletcher. This figure represents some of our expenses in this area.

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC

I believe the reference in English to “accommodation services“ is correct. However, the expression “services de logement” in French is not quite accurate. Would you agree with me?

11:20 a.m.

Audrey O'Brien Clerk of the House of Commons, House of Commons

You are right. I should have reviewed the translation yesterday. I also see that the expression “cahier de classement“ was used instead of “cahier d'information“. I think the person responsible for the translation may have been new.

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC

I understand. I'd like to come back to the computer system replacement program.

As you know, the Hill is a prime breeding ground for rumours. I'm wondering if you could tell us if the system replacement will bring about some changes at our constituency offices. Does this mean that computers in the 308 constituency offices will need to be changed, or will only the equipment on the Hill be replaced?

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Peter Milliken Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON

Only the equipment on the Hill, because Members are responsible for purchasing the computers for their constituency offices. This policy will continue to apply, at least for the time being.

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC

I see. As for the increases in compensation and salaries, have these increases already taken effect?

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Peter Milliken Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON

Yes. The agreements were for 2008.

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC

So then, these increases cannot be changed or adjusted retroactively by the Conservative government?

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Peter Milliken Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON

I have not seen the bill that the government is planning on introducing, but I would imagine that it would be apply to the upcoming fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2009.

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC

I see. Thank you.

11:20 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Joe Preston

Are there any further questions?

Monsieur Guimond.

11:20 a.m.

Bloc

Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, on page 4 of your notes, you talk about operational requirements. In the second paragraph, mention is made of a computer system replacement and software upgrade project. You indicated that “funding for this project is essential as Members' and House Officers' computers had reached the end of their life cycle. “

I don't know if either you and Mr. Bard can answer this question, but could you explain to me the meaning of “the end of their life cycle“?My knowledge of computers is quite limited, even though my BlackBerry and I are joined at the hip, so to speak. According to some of our assistants or colleagues who are far more computer savvy than I am, even though our computers are perfectly adequate, we get a call informing us that a decision has been made to replace them. I've already talked with Mr. Bard, who attended a seminar at the Corel Centre outlining the changes we could expect to see in the BlackBerry over the next three years. Every six months, new changes are being introduced. I realize that this technology evolves rapidly, but I am curious about the life cycle of our computers on the Hill. I'm not trying to stump you with this question, Mr. Speaker.

11:25 a.m.

Liberal

Peter Milliken Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON

I'm like you, Mr. Guimond, in that I don't have an exact opinion about all of this. I don't know the specifics. However, I have to say that my computer stopped working recently. I received a new one a week ago. Someone is setting it up for me because I have no idea how to go about it. So then, I'd be delighted if the experts could answer your question.

11:25 a.m.

Bloc

Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC

So would I, because with all due respect, Mr. Speaker, I'm not satisfied with that answer. I could swear we are in the middle of Question Period. You must not enjoy presiding over Question Period, because now you are answering question like the ministers do.

11:25 a.m.

Liberal

Peter Milliken Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON

Well, yes.

11:25 a.m.

Bloc

Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC

I'm kidding, of course.

11:25 a.m.

A voice

Of course.

11:25 a.m.

Bloc

Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC

I wasn't trying to be sarcastic. I was kidding.

11:25 a.m.

Louis Bard Chief Information Officer, House of Commons

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Mr. Guimond for his question.

The life cycle of a computer is normally the same as the life cycle of a Parliament. As a rule, we make plans to replace the computers every three and a half or four years. Therefore, every three and a half or four years, we include in the Main Estimates an item to replace the computers over a period of six to twelve months. This includes the computers of all Members and House Officers. We were scheduled to replace these computers last year between January and March, but given everything that was going on in Parliament, the caucuses asked us to postpone the work . For that reason, a portion of the installation and training budget was carried forward to this year.

11:25 a.m.

Bloc

Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC

If I have any time left, Mrs. DeBellefeuille would like to have it when her turn comes up.

11:25 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Joe Preston

Madame DeBellefeuille.