Thank you. Good morning, Madam Chair and committee members.
As the deputy minister mentioned, my name is Jen O'Donoughue, and I am the Chief Financial Officer for DFO and the Canadian Coast Guard.
We are pleased to be here this morning to provide a brief overview of the main estimates for 2018-19.
The presentation will be brief. This will allow plenty of time to go through any questions the committee may have. I will invite you to follow along using the PowerPoint presentation, which I believe all of you have a copy of.
As outlined on slide 3 of the presentation, the timing of the estimates has changed in 2018-19. Minister Brison tabled interim estimates back in February to ensure departments were able to start the fiscal year. The key change is the timing of main estimates, which now follows the budget.
As with all supply bills, they are referred to committee, where the contents are studied before voting actually takes place, which is why we are here today. The government tabled main estimates after the budget to better reflect budget priorities. This provides greater clarity and transparency to Canadians, and makes it easier for you, as parliamentarians, to scrutinize the estimates as part of your oversight of government spending.
I would also quickly like to note that our resources are no longer presented using the program alignment architecture. We now present, for information purposes only, our resources using our new departmental results framework. In the main estimates, specifically on page II–94 of the English main estimates, or page II-197 of the French, our resources are broken down by core responsibility: marine operations and response, fisheries, marine navigation, and aquatic ecosystems.
The numbers are presented in a similar fashion in the table on page II-93, but we broke the information down further to give you more detail.
This is on page II-93 of the English version.
The main estimates for 2018-19 total $2.45 billion, which represents a net increase of $244.7 million over last year.
I will now outline some of the key adjustments. These items can also be found on page II-94 in the highlights section. Our largest increase is related to the oceans protection plan, at $275 million. In her opening remarks, the deputy provided some examples of what the OPP is allowing us to do.
The next increase, at $244.7 million, is funding stemming from the comprehensive review of our programs and services to ensure we are able to maintain mission-critical services to Canadians. There is also an increase of $58.6 million in the Atlantic fisheries fund, which is now included in main estimates. This seven-year initiative, which started in 2017-18, supports the fish and seafood sector in Atlantic Canada as it transitions through significant challenges facing the region.
The final increase I will highlight today is an additional $42.2 million for the ongoing renewal and expansion of our indigenous fisheries programs and initiatives, which support the commitment to promoting the economic resilience of indigenous communities.
There are two additional planned adjustments. They represent planned decreases to funding profiles as the initiatives are nearing successful completion and the funding is winding down. This funding was temporary in nature. The first is a funding profile change to our federal infrastructure investments. The majority of these initiatives have been successfully completed. The second relates to funding for the offshore fisheries science vessels as the vessels are approaching the completion stage.
On the last slide, we have outlined DFO's budget 2018 measures. This information is similar to the budget 2018 annex included in these main estimates, specifically page A1-4, or A1-6 in the French version. This is a key pillar to Minister Brison's estimates reform.
Please note that before DFO can access any of these amounts, all initiatives will require approval of Treasury Board ministers. The budget implementation vote sets clear parameters for the allocation of funds. We cannot seek additional funding nor can we reallocate towards other initiatives or other purposes. Treasury Board Secretariat will report the allocations by department and by measure to Parliament on a monthly basis.
Thank you for this opportunity to discuss our main estimates with you.
My colleagues and I would be pleased to answer any questions you have.