Procedure and House Affairs Committee on May 14th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

I call the meeting to order. It's meeting 14, and it is in public today.

First we'll cover item two, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(a)(iii), review of the Standing Orders 153--list of reports--and 156--editorial corrections.

We have with us today the Speaker and the clerk, and our law clerk, Mr. Walsh. We will first of all try to clear this piece up.

Mr. Speaker, if you could remind us what it is you'd like us to do with this, we'll move forward.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Speaker of the House of Commons]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

There were two suggested changes in the Standing Orders, one to allow for the list of reports and returns to be sent out in electronic form instead of printed form. It was sent out in electronic form at the beginning of this Parliament and created no problems, apparently--not that I ever read it, but it's there, I guess, if you want to look.

Then we were suggesting a further amendment to Standing Order 156, to permit the law clerk to make non-substantive corrections to a bill. In the suggested standing order we list the kinds of corrections that he'd be allow to make. This is so we don't have to move technical amendments to put a comma in, or correct the spelling of a word, or some fairly minor corrections that are listed in the suggested standing order.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Since they are simply that, a request to put in grammatical changes, or, as needed, simple wordsmithing, are there any questions from any of the members on these changes to Standing Orders?

Seeing none, shall I report these recommendations on changes to the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Then that is done and done.

We'll move on to the second reason for being here today, and that is, pursuant to Standing Order 81(4), the main estimates 2009-10, vote 5 of the House of Commons.

Mr. Speaker, I welcome you and the clerk here for that reason today. I believe you have a few opening remarks.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Pages and pages.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Today I'll be presenting the House of Commons main estimates for 2009-10, which demonstrate that sound resource management is a key institutional priority for the House of Commons.

The House Administration strives to deliver and continuously improve the services that we - as Members - need to carry out our parliamentary functions and to develop and sustain a sound infrastructure to support our institution.

These activities are consistently carried out within a sound financial management framework. Specifically, in light of the current fiscal situation, an even more stringent review of requirements was conducted in preparation for the 2009-10 main estimates.

The 2009-10 main estimates were approved by the Board of Internal Economy on December 8, 2008, in the amount of $426,540,950. This represents an increase of only 0.4%, or $1,488,551, over fiscal year 2008-09. For reference purposes, you will have received a document outlining the year-over-year changes from 2008-09 to 2009-10.

To help facilitate today's discussion, I will provide an overview of the budget increases and reductions along six major themes: Budgets for Members, House Officers and Presiding Officers; Security; Services to Members; Infrastructure; Salaries; and Committees and Parliamentary Associations.

I will begin with an overview of the adjustments to the budgets for Members, House Officers and Presiding Officers.

In December 2008, the Board of Internal Economy approved a 1.5% increase in members' office budgets, including supplements; the House officers' budgets; the presiding officers' budgets; and the members' travel status expenses account. This increase, which became effective on April 1, 2009, represents additional funding of $2 million. This increase is also in line with the Expenditure Restraint Act.

The main estimates also show a reduction of $565,000 for an adjustment to House officers' budgets. The budgets were established for the 40th Parliament based on the election results for all parties, using the formula that was recommended by the political parties and approved by the Board of Internal Economy. Additionally, the estimates reflect a reduction in funding for the former Prime Minister. The board had previously approved an annual budget of $140,000, plus employee benefit plans, for the former Prime Minister for the duration of the 39th Parliament.

I will now move to the funding allotted to security. In December 2008, the board approved funding of $787,000 to establish a dedicated information technology security unit, and to provide IT support for security services in new House of Commons buildings and facilities.

This funding is necessary because of a significant increase in the number and sophistication of IT security threats. We have also experienced many ongoing changes to our business environment, such as additional committees, additional facilities/locations, greater user mobility and the increased reliance on secure IT services.

By establishing a dedicated IT security unit, the House administration will be able to continue improving its security practices by reducing common IT security issues, while also increasing its ability to identify quickly and respond to more serious cyber incidents.

Additionally, allocating funds to expand the IT infrastructure will enable the House administration to provide critical IT support to security services and new facilities throughout the parliamentary precinct and in satellite buildings. This is in keeping with the long-term vision and plan for the maintenance of the parliamentary precinct.

Given the essential work that members and the House administration carry out using our IT infrastructure, the board recognized the importance of continuing to protect it against emerging threats.

I will turn now to the funding that is attributed to services to Members.

In December 2008, the board approved $335,000 in funding to purchase and integrate an additional module for the House's financial management system that will automate procurement and contract management. The implementation of the new module will reinforce sound financial management practices and strong stewardship of public resources; support competitive processes that maximize the suitability of goods or services being purchased and give the best value for money; and enhance the quality and accessibility of procurement information, resulting in more effective planning and service delivery.

Furthermore, the Main Estimates reflect the importance of maintaining and sustaining the investments made in the technological infrastructure.

To this end, the board has approved $617,000 in funding for the ongoing maintenance, replacement, and support costs required for the management of audio and video assets in digital format. This is part of the overall migration from analog to digital broadcasting services that is being implemented within the long-term vision and plan for the parliamentary precinct. This migration will ensure that we are meeting broadcasting industry and House information technology and management standards, while also supporting access to audio and video recordings of parliamentary proceedings in digital formats.

The main estimates also reflect a reduction in funding of $75,000 for information technology requirements. This temporary funding had been approved in 2008-09 to replace the contact centre program implemented in 1995 with a newer version that would expand the support channel for members on the Hill and in their constituencies. This temporary funding is no longer required.

Before moving on to the salary adjustments that are accounted for in the main estimates, I'd like to touch briefly on the implications of the Budget Implementation Act, 2009. As you know, the Expenditure Restraint Act contains provisions that limit increases in salaries to 1.5% in 2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11. The act applies to members, members' staff, as well as House administration. However, it's important to note that the act will not be applied retroactively, and any agreements that were reached prior to the royal assent of the act will be respected. Salary adjustments after royal assent will respect the act and will be included in future funding requests.

As reflected in the main estimates, the Board of Internal Economy previously approved $3.9 million to cover economic and step increases for House administration employees prior to April 1, 2008.

This includes funding for: the collective agreements for the Operational Group, the Technical Group, the Procedural Clerks and Analysis and Reference Group, and the Reporting and Text Processing Sub-group; salary step increases for employees who are not at their maximum salary level; and salary increases for senior managers that are in keeping with the Treasury Board economic increase.

Furthermore, in accordance with the Parliament of Canada Act, members' salaries and allowances are adjusted each year on April 1. The adjustment is based on the index of the average percentage increase and base rate wages in Canada resulting from major settlements in the private sector. Using that formula, salaries have been increased by 3.1%. The main estimates allocate $1.4 million to cover the increase as of April 1, 2008.

I should also note that while the main estimates we are discussing today are not affected, the Parliament of Canada Act will also be amended so that future salary increases comply with the Expenditure Restraint Act.

Furthermore, the estimates provide $819,000 for budget increases related to other personnel costs. These non-discretionary expenditures are due to a rising number of maternity and parental leave claims and payments related to severance and vacation pay resulting from an increase in employee retirements. The main estimates also reflect Treasury Board's adjustment to the annual rate of employer contributions to employee benefit plans. For 2009-10 the annual rate has been adjusted from 17.5% to 17%, which represents a reduction of $995,680 in required funding.

The main estimates also include pension adjustments to the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Account and the Retirement Compensation Arrangements Account. As per Treasury Board policy, the House of Commons' contributions to these accounts are based on estimates determined by the Chief Actuary of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. The reduction of $6.3 million represents the difference between temporary funding that had been required to cover an estimated deficit and a cumulative increase in the estimated employer contributions.

Finally, under the theme of committees and parliamentary associations, you'll note there's been a reduction in funding of $268,000.

This funding had been approved by the Board in June 2007 to host the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's meetings in Toronto. Since the meetings were held in September 2008, this funding is no longer required for fiscal year 2009-2010.

I've now provided you with a brief overview of the 2009-10 main estimates that were approved by the board. I am confident that you will agree that these estimates are fiscally responsible, while at the same time being attentive to and reflective of our needs and concerns as members of the House of Commons.

I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have, with the help of my colleagues who are here with me today.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Let's start, then.

Mr. Cuzner, would you like to lead us off?

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

I have just one question.

And thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. It's always a pleasure to listen to your sob story.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

You were right on your game yesterday, Mr. Speaker.

With regard to the anticipated move of some of the committee hearing rooms outside the precinct and the fact that we would anticipate additional security costs, are they factored into this?

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

No, they are not factored in at the present time. This is anticipated for once the West Block closes down, when there are obviously going to be issues, both in terms of security and transportation. We're in the process of working that out. They will be featured in future main estimates.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

I know that the Board of Internal Economy is dealing with this now. Do we anticipate additional costs in this fiscal year?

[Audrey O'Brien]

No.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

They are not going to close the West Block until next year.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Okay.

That's it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Mr. Lukiwski.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Speaker, and Ms. O'Brien for being here.

Number one, congratulations on keeping the budget to a less than half of one per cent increase from the last fiscal year.

I know this has been vetted through the Board of Internal Economy, and there's nothing in here that I see that raises any red flags or alarm bells. My one question is rather open-ended. That is, has there been any kind of a wish list that you had, either for this year or previous years, that you'd like to see budget allocations for that you haven't received?

[Audrey O'Brien]

I didn't realize it was time to write to Santa. I would have been a bit more creative.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

There are no guarantees you'd get anything, Audrey.

[Audrey O'Brien]

We were very aware, in coming before the Board of Internal Economy, given the economic situation and the difficulties being faced worldwide, that we had to be extremely frugal in our requests.

I think our priorities would be in two areas.

On the one hand, our priority would be that we continue to invest in the maintenance and development of the infrastructure technology, which is serving members extremely well, and for which a lot of the front-end money for investment has come from a long-term vision and plan. Over time, it is going to require considerable investment to maintain the very high standard that we've now achieved, which allows us to continue to serve members with the best tools available. In that respect, we've been very fortunate in that the board has been sympathetic to the various constraints we have suggested. We need a consistent approach in which the support services offered to members for their technological issues is very robust. That would be on the technological side.

On the other side, one of the things that we're going to have to start looking at is the retention of our new hires. We have already started preparing a strategy for succession planning and leadership development. A lot of new hires come in, particularly on the corporate side of things, in human resources or finance. Often very well qualified, they'll take a junior post, occupy it for a year or 18 months, and then, armed with this work experience, look for jobs in the public service where, by virtue of sheer size, there's more room for accelerated advancement. This is already posing some retention difficulties for us.

One of the things that works well for us in this respect in, say, procedural services, is the possibility of having people rotate through different jobs. Over time, you can actually have quite a varied career here. We do various things like the family-friendly flexible time, maternity leave, and parental leave. These things are very attractive to young people. But in coming years, I think we are going to have to pay some serious attention to how we compare with the public service in retention and compensation.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

We're talking budget issues. So besides all of the other benefits and work environment that you provide for your hires, it will come down to budget issue in a lot of cases. On both the infrastructure technology and on hires, you've tried to toe the line this year, and I applaud you for that.

When would this become something that would have to be dealt with? No one knows how long this recession will last. The current economic environment may last six months, or it may last a few years. Do you have any timeline when you might be coming back to the BOIE and then this committee with budget asks for those two categories?

[Audrey O'Brien]

Without revealing the secrets of the sanctum sanctorum of the Board of Internal Economy, I wouldn't like to suggest that we've been rebuffed in our requests. We have tried to be strategic about when we come forward with an ask. This was our approach this year on information technology security. We held back, however, on more funds for human resources development. I think that might be something that we will be coming forward with next year. The information technology requires a continual investment.

With respect to our own responsibility as parliamentary public servants, we understand that we have to decide on priorities. What I don't want is to get into a situation in which an extended period of neglect would cause us to require a massive investment just to catch up. I think we're doing fairly well right now in terms of a balance. If we play our cards right, we can come forward gradually with investments that will pay off in the long term.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Thank you both.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Thank you, Mr. Lukiwski.

Mr. Paquette, welcome. It's your turn.