Give a brief response, if you wish, sir.
Then you're out of time, Madam.
Evidence of meeting #3 for Finance in the 39th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was budget.
Evidence of meeting #3 for Finance in the 39th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was budget.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Brian Pallister
Give a brief response, if you wish, sir.
Then you're out of time, Madam.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic and Fiscal Policy Branch, Department of Finance
All I'm saying is that the budget shows clear commitments for the next two years. It doesn't go beyond this, with a few exceptions, like the infrastructure programs, where it shows the commitments over the next four years. But for most of the budget commitments, it is clearly a two-year budget horizon.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Brian Pallister
There is time for a couple more questions.
Madame Wasylycia-Leis, s'il vous plaît.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Brian Pallister
My past experience tells me, Madam, that will mean, at most, two.
NDP
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB
The first question I have was hinted at before, with the cuts in the environment area. I would assume it is the finance department that would issue a directive around any decisions taken by the government to find savings through cutbacks in programs. We know that the government has announced its intentions to find $22 billion in savings, and we would assume some of these things we're hearing about in dribs and drabs are part of that.
So is there an overall directive? Who issued it? When's the deadline? And what are the guidelines for the $22 billion in savings?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic and Fiscal Policy Branch, Department of Finance
Well, the budget announced $1 billion of cuts this year and next year, for both years. Treasury Board Secretariat is working on this, and there is a commitment to report by the fall on it. So it is really the Treasury Board that will work on finding the savings that we are talking about here.
The only other mention of the allocation is with regard to the child care measures in 2007-08 that will be replaced with other environment measures. But again, the reallocation that we are talking about is the responsibility of Treasury Board.
NDP
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB
So you don't know anything about $22 billion--nothing from the minister?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic and Fiscal Policy Branch, Department of Finance
All I'm saying is that Treasury Board is working on a plan right now.
NDP
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB
And the finance department wouldn't know anything on that, right?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic and Fiscal Policy Branch, Department of Finance
Well, we will be informed of what they are doing.
NDP
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB
Okay, I'll move on, then.
As the finance department, you're responsible for the budget. There must be some reporting mechanism from Treasury Board to you, then, in terms of these cuts, because someone has to be there to understand the ramifications to be able to account for it. Are you the final stop? Does the buck stop at the Department of Finance, in terms of analysis?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic and Fiscal Policy Branch, Department of Finance
No, this is the responsibility of the Treasury Board.
NDP
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB
What about in terms of the overall budget? There's always been a requirement that a gender analysis be done of the budget. The last time I asked, I was told that nothing had happened to that point last year, other than that each department supposedly does its own gender analysis and contributes it to the overall. But is there no one in your department who does an overall analysis based on gender, so we can see which parts discriminate against women?
This leads me to the next question, which has to do with the new child allowance, because my understanding is that it will in fact benefit...disproportionately and negatively single-parent women at the low end of the scale with children under the age of six. So I'd like to know if analysis was not done before that decision was made?
Secondly, could you give us a chart with the numbers actually breaking down the disbursement of the child allowance by income group and family category.
That would be one question. I have more, though. I'm just trying to get this all in before I get cut off.
General Director, Analysis, Tax Policy Branch, Department of Finance
In terms of a chart giving a breakdown of the benefits by income, we have those available, yes.
General Director, Analysis, Tax Policy Branch, Department of Finance
Yes, of course.
Just to make sure, I'm not sure if we have the data available by gender, though. We have that available by family, of course, but we don't have—
NDP
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB
But at least we'll know whether they're female-led families or not; we can at least get that much, because you'd have that if it's by family.
General Director, Analysis, Tax Policy Branch, Department of Finance
We have that by family, but we don't know if they are headed by women or men.
General Director, Analysis, Tax Policy Branch, Department of Finance
Not necessarily.
NDP
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB
Okay. I would assume, even though the Minister of Justice from the province of Manitoba said the opposite, that the child allowance is going to be taxed federally?
General Director, Analysis, Tax Policy Branch, Department of Finance
It's going to be taxed based on the lowest-income spouse or partner.