Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Madam Chair.
I am pleased to appear before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates today. I am accompanied by Mr. Yvan Roy, Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Legislation and House Planning and Machinery of Government, and Counsel to the Clerk. We are also accompanied by other official representatives who will provide us with support, if necessary.
PCO's last appearance before the committee was in November 2006 regarding the 2006-07 supplementary estimates, and we understand that we're invited here today to discuss the 2007-08 supplementary estimates.
PCO, as a core institution led by the clerk, has the mandate to support the Prime Minister, the cabinet, and its committees.
Over the next three years, PCO will focus on four key priorities. The first is to continue to support the Prime Minister in exercising his overall leadership responsibility through, for example, advice on the appointment of principal public office-holders and fulfilling the cabinet secretariat role through the challenge and coordination function with respect to policy proposals being brought forward by departments.
The second key priority area is to continue to play a central coordinating role in assisting the Prime Minister in improving the overall management, transparency, and accountability of government. This includes continued support to implement the Federal Accountability Act and its action plan and to support the renewal of the public service.
The third key priority is to provide advice and support on the development and implementation of the government's focused agenda as set out in the Speech from the Throne and identified by the Prime Minister.
The fourth priority is to strengthen our internal management practices, with emphasis on implementing the strategic HR plan and strengthening our emergency management and business continuity planning capacity to ensure the ongoing safety and health of our staff, our information, and our assets.
PCO's Main Estimates for 2007-2008 total $127 million. Approximately 68% of our resources are spent on providing advice and support to the Prime Minister and Ministers in his portfolio, 22% on providing advice and support to the Cabinet and Cabinet committees and 6% on providing leadership to the public service.
Four percent of 2007-2008 Main Estimates, that is $5.7 million, is allocated to the Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182. Commissions of inquiry are established at the prerogative of the Prime Minister and PCO provides administrative support to those commissions which report to the Prime Minister.
PCO is providing, or has provided, this administrative support to three commissions of inquiry in 2007-08: the internal inquiry into the actions of Canadian officials in relation to Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nereddin; the inquiry into the investigation of the bombing of Air India flight 182; and the inquiry into the actions of Canadian officials in relation to Maher Arar.
PCO supplementary estimates for 2007-08 total $14.3 million, of which $14.2 million pertain to the three commissions of inquiry. I will speak briefly about each inquiry.
The internal inquiry into the actions of Canadian officials in relation to Messrs. Almalki, Abou-Elmaati, and Nereddin was launched in December 2006, and the Honourable Frank lacobucci was appointed commissioner. Our supplementary estimates include $7.5 million for this inquiry to cover operational costs of the commission, such as salaries, accommodations, travel, furniture and equipment, legal services, and translation. The funding also includes $700,000 to provide assistance in the form of contribution payments with regard to the cost of legal counsel for certain parties and intervenors appearing before the commission.
The inquiry into the investigation of the bombing of Air India flight 182 was launched last year under Justice John C. Major. Funding requirements in the supplementary estimates for 2007-08 are $6.3 million to cover the cost of operations, again, salaries, accommodations, travel, etc. The funding also includes $1.1 million to provide assistance in the form of contribution payments, again with regard to the cost of legal counsel for certain parties and intervenors.
Funding in the amount of $374,000 is requested in the supplementary estimates for the inquiry into the actions of Canadian officials in relation to Maher Arar. The commissioner, Justice Dennis R. O'Connor, challenged the redaction of certain material in his report. The matter was considered by the Federal Court, and on August 9, 2007, disclosure of some additional information was authorized by the court and an addendum to the report was released. The budget includes some travel, legal services, rental of accommodations, and the production of the addendum report. The budget also includes $25,000 for contribution funding for Mr. Arar's participation. Although much of this application was in camera, the Federal Court granted Mr. Arar status to participate in portions of the hearings that were held in public. The commission officially wound up on September 28, 2007.
To wrap up, the remaining $135,000 in supplementary estimates provides funds that were approved under an omnibus TB submission to support the continued implementation of the PSMA, which Treasury Board commented on before us, so I won't get any further into detail on that.
We would be pleased to answer your questions.