Procedure and House Affairs committee  I realize Mr. Cappe was talking about discussion papers under section 69 of the Access to Information Act. Those discussion papers, if they existed, could be exempt, as I understand it. But that is not the way cost information is presented. Cost information is presented as part o

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, and I believe the ministers have provided that information.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Well, the information provided today I think.... Listening to the testimony earlier today by ministers, I believe they said the information provided today elaborates on the information they provided earlier.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm sorry, I wouldn't be able to answer that question.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Twenty-seven.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  First of all, I'm not an expert on access to information or cabinet confidences and really cannot address those kinds of issues in a professional way. Those are questions more for my colleagues at the Privy Council Office. All I can say is what we require when bills are presente

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Let me go back to what I said earlier. When a bill is considered by cabinet, you do have high-level costs. As a bill gets closer, after consideration by the House and approval and implementation, those costs can evolve, so the costs do tend to become more precise over time.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Chair and members of the committee. We are pleased to be here to answer your questions. With me today is Donna Dériger, Acting Senior Director, Office of the Comptroller General. Ms. Dériger is responsible for the Treasury Board Secretariat Guide to Costing. We'd

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Let me start, and I'll turn to Ms. Dériger on this. The costing is done by departments based on our guidance, based on the guidance that Donna and her folks provide to the departments. When any item or a new initiative is presented in a memorandum to cabinet or a submission, it

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, if a memorandum to cabinet is presented, then cost information is prepared as part of that.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The information on the bill is presented by the minister tabling the bill. It's up to that minister to determine what information he provides on cost at that time. As bills progress and change and as we move toward implementation of the actual initiatives, the costs themselves

Government Operations committee  Let me turn to Christine Walker, our chief financial officer.

Government Operations committee  Let me address the OAS question. There is absolutely no reduction in benefits. The numbers that we provide to Parliament are based on forecasts done by the Department of Finance, HRSDC, and others. So when we adjust the forecast because of changes in the demographics, they're ref

Government Operations committee  I'll direct your question to one of my colleagues who has the answer.

Government Operations committee  Yes, it is well within the limits from budget 2010. The point of saying that the estimates of the statutory spending are not part of the appropriation bill is just to explain that it is not part of the demand from Parliament for resources in these supplementary estimates. It's re