Finance Committee on Feb. 13th, 2008

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

In respect of structure, on the $2.7 million, what will we do with what remains? If we allocated $200,000, what would we do with the remaining $2.5 million?

[Allan Darling]

We anticipate a staff allocation that would take about two-thirds of that budget. Out of the balance, we also have a budget for engaging consulting and expert services.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Thank you.

The final word on this round will be Mr. Dykstra's, for two and a half minutes.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. McKay made some interesting observations about the finance department's hands and where they might be. I don't know, when he was parliamentary secretary, they might've been in places they shouldn't have been. I certainly don't want to let that go without a response.

I'll simply ask any one of the three gentlemen to confirm that the process he went through, although lengthy, was as independent as possible.

[William R. Young]

Absolutely. There has been no discussion of the appointment process with the Department of Finance or with anyone at any political level. With respect to notification of individuals at the political level, I will tell you that House leaders of every party, in both chambers, received a letter from me, indicating where I was in the staffing process and volunteering Mr. Darling or me to meet with those people if there were any questions.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Thank you.

I might have a bit of time. I turn it over to my colleague, Mr. Menzies.

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Macleod, AB]

Thank you.

I can see this role expanding as we speak. In our pre-budget consultations we have groups and individuals that come to us to ask that their project be included in the next budget. They will say to us, “Well, it's only going to cost $10 million; those are the numbers we have.”

Will we have the opportunity, time permitting, to see if the estimate is anywhere near accurate?

[William R. Young]

I don't want to anticipate too much how the individual is going to define the role. Quite frankly, if I were he or she and I were confronted with the pre-budget consultations that I know you folks undertake, I would volunteer to come before the committee to discuss with you exactly what your needs are. You have two analysts sitting here who are dealing with this issue.

My view is that the budget officer should be value-added to the service you already have—to augment that service, not to duplicate it. This is partly internal, but it also has to do with cooperating with you as a committee and individual members to find the best way to support you in your work.

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Macleod, AB]

That's a great note to end on.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Thank you. It sounds like good wisdom for that individual, whenever he or she gets through it.

We will now suspend the meeting as we bring forward the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Privy Council Office, and the Department of Finance. If the present witnesses would retreat and the others would come forward, we'll pick the meeting up from there.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Seeing the witnesses there, we will call the meeting back to order and I would ask the members to take their seats.

We have with us Joe Wild, executive director of the Treasury Board Secretariat.

I understand that you will be doing a presentation, and you have your resource people beside you who you will introduce.

We will open the floor up to your presentation, and to questions and answers after that.

The floor is yours.

[Joe Wild, Executive Director, Strategic Policy, Corporate Priorities, Planning and Policy Renewal Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Before beginning my remarks, I'll quickly introduce my colleagues who are at the table. Marc O'Sullivan is the acting assistant secretary to the cabinet for senior personnel and special projects with the Privy Council Office; and Katharine Rechico is with the Department of Finance, as is Benoit Robidoux. They're here primarily to assist in any technical questions that might come up around the specifics of some of the mandate.

I'm going to quickly go through some brief opening remarks just to help set some context for the members of the committee.

Thank you for your invitation to appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance to discuss the implementation of the Federal Accountability Act and especially the implementation of a Parliamentary Budget Officer position.

As lead for the overall implementation of the act, I propose to update the committee on the overall progress that has been made by the government.

As you know, the Federal Accountability Act amended 46 existing statutes and created two new ones. Some of these changes came into force at royal assent on December 12, 2006, while others were subject to coming-into-force dates set out in the act or established by order in council.

The introduction of Bill C-2 was accompanied by the federal accountability action plan, which organized the various elements of the Federal Accountability Act along 14 themes and set out as well related policy initiatives. I will now provide some details on the highlights of the government's progress in implementing the act and action plan along those themes.

With respect to reforming the financing of political parties, this element has been fully implemented. The relevant statutory amendments came into force on January 1, 2007. These measures are currently being administered by the Chief Electoral Officer.

With respect to banning secret donations to political candidates, this element has been fully implemented. The final statutory amendments came into force on July 9, 2007. These measures are currently being administered by the Chief Electoral Officer and the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

With regard to strengthening the role of the Ethics Commissioner, this element has been fully implemented. The new Conflict of Interest Act came into force on July 9, 2007. On that date, Ms. Mary Dawson was appointed to the new position of Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

With regard to making qualified government appointments, statutory amendments to provide parliamentarians with more say in the appointment of agents of Parliament, to revise the process for appointing returning officers under the Canada Elections Act, to provide for the creation of a public appointments commission, and to remove entitlements to priority appointments within the public service for ministerial staffers, these have all come into force.

With respect to cleaning up government polling and advertising, most of the items under this heading have been implemented, including statutory and policy changes and contract regulations that came into effect on June 7, 2007.

With regard to providing real protection for whistle-blowers, the amended Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act was brought into force and operational as of April 15, 2007. Appointments have been made to both the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner and the public servants disclosure tribunal.

In terms of strengthening the access to information legislation, all of the statutory amendments under this element have been brought into force. The Access to Information Act has been expanded to include 69 additional institutions, which comprise agents of Parliament, several foundations created under federal statute, seven additional parent crown corporations, and all subsidiary crown corporations.

With respect to strengthening the power of the Auditor General, all of the statutory elements under this element have been brought into force. Regulations are also being developed in order to support the Auditor General's authority to inquire into the use of funds under federal funding agreements.

With regard to strengthening auditing and accountability within departments, deputy heads have been designated as accounting officers under the Financial Administration Act. Statutory amendments have been made regarding the governing structure of crown corporations, and a new offence has been created for fraud involving public moneys.

In terms of creating and establishing a director of public prosecutions, the office of the director has been created and it is operational. An acting director has been appointed, pending a permanent appointment to this position. It has been that way since the act received royal assent on December 12, 2006.

We have also ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption. That convention was ratified on October 2, 2007.

In terms of cleaning up procurement of government contracts, several items under this element have been completed, including the incorporation of an overarching statement of principle on procurement in the Financial Administration Act and the adoption of a new code of conduct for procurement on September 19. A procurement ombudsman designate has been appointed. Draft regulations were posted in the Canada Gazette on December 22, 2007.

In terms of toughening the Lobbyists Registration Act, the government has developed proposed regulations for the coming into force of the Lobbying Act. The consultations on those regulations are now closed. The regulations are going through the process of being finalized in order to be brought forward for deliberation by the Governor in Council.

With regard to the establishment of a parliamentary budget authority, as you know, this item remains to be fully implemented. The Federal Accountability Act established within the Library of Parliament the position of parliamentary budget officer. The new officer will provide research and objective analysis to the Senate and House of Commons concerning the state of the nation's finances, the estimates of the government, and trends in the national economy. The parliamentary librarian, under whose responsibility the selection process of the parliamentary budget authority falls, has highlighted current progress made on the matter.

There has been a lot of work done in the last year on the Federal Accountability Act, and I want to assure this committee that, across government, we continue our hard work to implement this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Chairman, that concludes my opening remarks. I'd be pleased to answer any questions committee members may have.

I understand that Mr. O'Sullivan has a few brief remarks.

[Marc O'Sullivan, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Senior Personnel and Special Projects Secretariat, Privy Council Office]

Thank you.

As the parliamentary librarian said earlier, the appointment suggested by the selection committee that directed the process has been submitted to government. The government knows the name of the person in question, and is holding discussions with that person in an effort to settle everything so that the appointment can proceed quickly. We hope that the appointment can be made soon. That is where we are now.

I would also be very happy to take your questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Thank you.

With that, we'll move to Mr. Pacetti, and we will allow five minutes.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

I think after those opening remarks we can all go home.

For a government that doesn't like much government, there seem to be a lot of extra positions. But as to the one we're interested in, all of a sudden, it seems that Mr. O'Sullivan has answered the question. That person can be hired imminently, just by coincidence. So I'm not sure if I have to ask questions or if we just wait until Monday and see what happens.

But the fact that I have a couple of minutes....

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

I guess you heard some of the testimony of Mr. Young regarding the Library of Parliament. In terms of the structure, in terms of whether this is going to be an independent parliamentary office answerable only to Parliament—this question is for Mr. Wild—is that what's going to happen, or did we make a mistake in adopting this particular position and putting it into the Federal Accountability Act?

[Joe Wild]

Under the Federal Accountability Act the amendments to the Parliament of Canada Act clearly establish the office of the parliamentary budget officer within the Library of Parliament. The Library of Parliament is an institution of Parliament, and as such, it is independent of the executive. It is overseen by the Board of Internal Economy and through the Speakers of the two Houses. So certainly, from the government's perspective, this is an independent office.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

I understand that you've engaged—or I think it was the Library of Parliament that did, that's not even clear—an independent firm to conduct the work of finding somebody. What happens afterwards? Who takes care of hiring him? Is it going to be the government or is it going to be the Speaker of the House?

[Joe Wild]

Well, with respect to the appointment process, Mr. O'Sullivan would be in the best position to answer.

[Marc O'Sullivan]

The legislation sets out that the appointment of the parliamentary budget officer is made by the Governor in Council, so by cabinet, by the Commissioner of the Great Seal. So that's a position that's done at the pleasure of the government.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Again, because we have limited time--I don't mean to interrupt you--does that not contradict what Mr. Wild just said?

[Marc O'Sullivan]

No, because there are many positions within Parliament. Parliamentary officers are appointed by the Governor in Council, starting with the Clerk of the Senate, the Clerk of the House of Commons, the Usher of the Black Rod, the deputy clerk, the Sergeant-at-Arms, the clerk assistant, the law clerk, parliamentary counsel, and the parliamentary librarian, as well as the associate parliamentary librarian.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Those are all orders in council.

[Marc O'Sullivan]

Those are all appointed by the Governor in Council, yes.