Public Accounts committee  That is what the National Capital Commission has posted on their website, yes.

Public Accounts committee  Do you mean generally speaking, or with regard to the National Capital Commission?

Public Accounts committee  From a communications perspective, there would be two forms of communications. I would call them “formal” and “informal”. On the formal side, it's some of the things that were mentioned by my colleague. Through the review of corporate plans, there are letters of expectations that are sent to the CEOs of all Crown corporations by ministers, which basically identify the expectations of the minister in terms of what the Crown corporations will do in terms of activities.

Public Accounts committee  Within the National Capital Commission's corporate plans, it identifies the overall expenditures it will be undertaking based on its entire budget. It breaks that budget down based on large categories, including upkeep and maintenance of things like the entire suite of official residences.

Public Accounts committee  The National Capital Commission can answer, but one of the things I would point out is that, as a Crown corporation, the National Capital Commission operates much more as a private sector entity and therefore is not subject to most of the policies and rules from the Treasury Board that would, for example, apply to departments or agencies.

Public Accounts committee  They have flexibility in terms of how they undertake their procurements. I don't know what processes they use—

Public Accounts committee  I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, but I don't know the answer to that question.

Public Accounts committee  No. Their procurement process is operational. Given the arm's-length nature of Crown corporations, it is the responsibility of the organization to manage itself in accordance with the applicable rules.

Public Accounts committee  As a Crown corporation, the organization doesn't have the obligation to report to PSPC. What it does is that it prepares a corporate plan on an annual basis, which basically identifies the activities that it will undertake based on the totality of its budget. They break down those activities in large buckets of activities, for lack of a better term, and that corporate plan is reviewed by the department in support of the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, to be able to ensure that the activities the Crown corporation is going to undertake are aligned with the general government direction.

Public Accounts committee  No, they are not required to seek endorsement or approval from the Department of Public Services and Procurement. As an arm's-length organization or Crown corporation, they actually don't require the department's approval to be able to move forward.

Public Accounts committee  They have autonomy for the budget they have: how they're going to expend and operationalize that budget.

Public Accounts committee  I unfortunately don't know the answer to that question.

Public Accounts committee  I can't do comparisons in terms of the NCC's activities, because that would be within the NCC. What I can say is that I saw from the public information by the National Capital Commission that the project did come within the budget that had been identified.

Public Accounts committee  Again, the National Capital Commission will be able to provide a more comprehensive response, but based on the information I have, it used to be a series of four buildings that were past their life cycle and had some health and safety concerns, so they basically needed to be changed, updated or demolished, basically.

Public Accounts committee  How many...?