Government Operations committee  Thank you. We have undertaken a substantial review of a number of categories, for example, of goods and services. We have 31 major categories, and we are going through an extensive review process for each one of them, engaging with industry. One of the comments we received was that when we pull together supply arrangements or standing offers, they tend to be for a length of time and companies don't have an opportunity to either refresh or update their information, and we don't have an opportunity except when we have to re-compete these on a three-year, or depending on the length of the arrangements.

Government Operations committee  I would not want to interpret the judge's assessment at this particular juncture. I would just say that we are reviewing the conclusions.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. You correctly mention our integrity framework. As I indicated in a response to an earlier question, one of our biggest suppliers in terms of alternate service delivery for operations and maintenance is, in fact, SNC-Lavalin. They have voluntarily integrated our integrity framework into their contracts, even though the contracts are still in place.

Government Operations committee  Thank you. There are two reports on advertising that are put forward. One is put forward by the Treasury Board Secretariat, which is in relation to the central advertising envelope, and then what Public Works produces are the actual expenditures. We are conscious of the delays, but we are working with the suppliers, because what we need to post are the actual expenditures and we get that information from our agency of record and the various departments.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. As I said in my presentation, the department has a whole range of measures it can take, if, for example, there are problems relating to payments or billing, or if we receive complaints, or much more directly, in relation to our integrity framework, if there are convictions involving either members of the board of directors or the companies themselves.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, the dollar amount that you're referring to is the result of a judgment that was released recently. That judgment is still under review by the department. It's a 350-page judgment so we are reviewing it at this particular juncture to determine next steps with regard to that.

Government Operations committee  I could not resist. I'm sorry, Mr. Chair.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, I can assure you that there would not be. A number of the contractors in this area—we took steps to ensure that—already have security clearances. In areas where they need an increased clearance, we process those as quickly as possible. We have not noticed or been advised by the shipyards of any delays in their ability to contract or to work in this area.

Government Operations committee  It could be one for three, or it could be separate ones for each.

Government Operations committee  The current relocation services are offered for the Canadian Forces, the RCMP, and for public servants. They are three separate contracts, and they are available for competition.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. We are working on that and we have not yet set a specific date, but it will be within the timeframe to allow for the transition.

Government Operations committee  As I was looking at the FTE counts, the FTE counts for acquisitions are going down essentially because of the number of the projects that we are terminating or that are coming to a close. They do not include the shipbuilding and the jet secretariats.

Government Operations committee  No, they are not. We are winding down other projects. For example, the Sydney Tar Ponds project is coming to a close. When we have resources that are allocated to specific initiatives, they do go down. As other initiatives come in, we will then be looking at increasing the FTEs in relation to those.

Government Operations committee  The audit report that was tabled today includes a chapter that is a follow-up to a previous audit. On the areas for which the original audit had given us some recommendations, the Auditor General did give us—I do want to point this out—a satisfactory rating. That's important because we worked very hard on meeting the commitments and the management action plan we had set out for those recommendations.

Government Operations committee  I will ask my chief financial officer, with your permission Mr. Chair, to take that question.