Evidence of meeting #184 for Finance in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was proposed.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
Are there any new monies associated with this change? You said it's a new department, but it's renaming a current department. Is that correct?
Director, Gender-Based Analysis Plus and Strategic Policy, Policy and External Relations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
Yes. Right now Status of Women Canada is an agency. It would be formalizing it into a new full department, similar to other full departments in the Government of Canada.
There's no funding associated with this piece of legislation. In 2016 and 2017, consecutive budgets have invested in gender equality over time, and there have been modest investments within Status of Women.
Conservative
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
This particular legislation doesn't require any new monies. Maybe you know this from the departmental plan. Is there an increase in FTEs expected in conjunction with the change from agency to full department?
Director, Gender-Based Analysis Plus and Strategic Policy, Policy and External Relations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
In terms of an expanded mandate for Status of Women, the current activities would continue. Then there could be opportunities to expand those activities beyond what we're doing. At the moment, this is really just about creating a department. We're looking at ways we could be doing more, in terms of our capacity.
Conservative
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
It's creating a department from an agency but it's the same people currently in the agency who will be...so it's just a renaming.
Director, Gender-Based Analysis Plus and Strategic Policy, Policy and External Relations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
Yes, absolutely.
Conservative
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
Then all the business cards—all that stuff—have to be changed over. Is that correct?
Director, Gender-Based Analysis Plus and Strategic Policy, Policy and External Relations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
In terms of the title, yes, exactly.
Liberal
Director, Gender-Based Analysis Plus and Strategic Policy, Policy and External Relations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
Yes, absolutely. There would be a deputy minister and minister. Currently, Minister Monsef is the Minister of Status of Women. If this legislation passes, either she continues in her role or there would have to be another decision made.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Okay. But it would basically be a full-fledged department. Departments differ in their sizes but there would be the bureaucracy that normally goes with the department, headed up by a deputy minister.
Mr. Kmiec.
Conservative
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
I guess you're leading me to another question. What is the difference between the civil service in an agency versus the civil service in a department?
There is a deputy minister so that requires more financing. Is there a difference in the FTEs? There are different sizes of departments and all that, but there has to be a certain minimum. Is there?
Director, Gender-Based Analysis Plus and Strategic Policy, Policy and External Relations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
Right now we do have a deputy minister that was named for Status of Women. She would continue on as deputy minister and there would be no change in FTEs.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Okay. Thanks very much, Madame Bélanger.
We turn then to division 9, Canadian gender budgeting act. That will be from finance, Ms. McDermott; and from, I assume, TBS, Treasury Board Secretariat, Mr. Armstrong.
Who's the lead?
Alison McDermott General Director, Economic and Fiscal Policy Branch, Department of Finance
I can start.
We are here to discuss section 9 of part 4, which implements the Gender Budgeting Act.
This bill is introducing gender budgeting into the federal government's budgetary and financial management processes.
Beyond the preamble, it has two parts. The first part is a statement of policy that articulates the government's policy of promoting gender equality and inclusiveness by taking gender and diversity into consideration in the budget decision-making process, and by making information available to the public on the impacts of government decisions from a gender and diversity perspective.
The second part of the bill establishes reporting requirements related to the analysis of gender equality and diversity impacts of various measures.
There are three requirements in particular. Proposed section 3 establishes a new responsibility for the Minister of Finance to publicly report on the gender and diversity impacts of all new, announced budget measures. This is a requirement that is in place every time there is a federal budget plan published.
Proposed section 4 establishes a new responsibility for the Minister of Finance to publicly report on the analysis of gender and diversity impacts of tax expenditures. These are deductions and other tax revenues forgone. I'll tell you more about tax expenditures. This is an annual requirement to make this analysis available. There is some discretion on the part of the Minister of Finance with respect to which part of tax expenditures to report on annually, but there's a requirement to report once a year.
Finally, proposed section 5 establishes a new responsibility for the President of the Treasury Board to make analysis of the gender and diversity impacts of existing government programs that are program expenditures, and to make that information available on an annual basis. That's an annual requirement as well. Again, there's some discretion on the part of the president to determine in consultation with the Minister of Finance which programs to cover in what order and in which years.
I'm happy at this point to take your questions.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Are there any questions?
We'll go with Mr. Massé and then Mr. Julian.
Liberal
Rémi Massé Liberal Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Your last point pertained to the program analyses that the President of the Treasury Board will be making public. Have you already determined, in consultation with the Minister of Finance, the types of programs you would like to look at?
Derek Armstrong Executive Director, Results Division, Expenditure Management Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat
At this point we haven't determined the specific programs that we'd be looking at, but we would certainly look at potentially any programs in the government's current spending and how they're related to the gender results framework.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Thanks, Mr. Chair.
There are really three components to this stand-alone bill within this omnibus budget legislation, two of which are providing for an option to print reports on an annual basis that the minister considers appropriate. Then for the third there is an obligation to submit a report on the impacts in terms of gender and diversity of all new budget measures described in the budget, if an assessment is not included or any related documents that the minister has made public.
Just so we understand, the analysis on tax expenditure and the analysis on programs is an option that is granted to the minister. It is not an obligation.
General Director, Economic and Fiscal Policy Branch, Department of Finance
There is a requirement to report annually on the GBA impacts of tax expenditures, on gender and diversity impacts of tax expenditures.
Where there's discretion is that there's not a requirement to report annually on all tax expenditures every year. There's some allowance, recognizing that these types of expenditures, just like the government's annual ongoing expenditures, are the same from year to year, unlike new budgets. Budgets bring forward new measures, so each budget has a new set of initiatives.
For budgets, we're covering all of them every year. With respect to the tax expenditures and programs it might make more sense to look at some during some years and look at others in other years according to relevance and according to what the capacity of the department to examine is. There's a little more discretion there to avoid repeating the same kind of analysis year after year.
In most cases there is a requirement to make information available on an annual basis.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
I'm just looking at the actual legal language. It says, all analysis “that the Minister considers appropriate.”
I understand what you're saying in terms of an obligation. Given that the appropriateness is determined by the minister, I think that leaves a fairly large loophole. I do understand the implementation of the new budget measures if an assessment is not included in the budget plan or any related documents that the minister has made public. There is an obligation provided that things are missing in the budget papers.