Okay. I will be brief.
Good afternoon, and thank you, Madam Chair.
I'm pleased to appear before your committee today to discuss the 2007-08 supplementary estimates for the Canada Public Service Agency.
As mentioned earlier, I'm accompanied by Ginette Sylvestre, our senior financial officer at the agency.
As you know, the Canada Public Service Agency is a relatively young human resource organization. It was established in 2003.
As one of the strategic arms of the Treasury Board, as Wayne Wouters mentioned, our mandate is to support the renewal of leadership and excellence in people management in the public service, the key priority of the Clerk of the Privy Council. We are involved in rejuvenating many of the essential building blocks of HR management, including values and ethics, official languages, employment equity, HR planning, and job classification, and we work very closely with our colleagues in the Treasury Board Secretariat who have other key important elements of HR management. We also work very closely with the Canada School of Public Service as well as the Public Service Commission.
The agency's main estimates for 2007-08 total $69.1 million. The planned spending did not reflect the then unapproved $23.1 million in supplementary estimates. With these additions, the agency's total authorities for 2007-08 would be $92.2 million.
In the supplementary estimates we're asking for additional funding to continue the implementation of two pieces of legislation that are critical to the functioning of the public service, the first being the Public Service Modernization Act and the second being the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act.
For the Public Service Modernization Act, we are seeking $17.384 million to continue the delivery of programs for our agency to fulfill the legislative obligations under the act and $2.82 million for related activities that are essential to its continued implementation.
I'd like to take a moment to briefly explain the Public Service Modernization Act and why it is such a key piece of HR legislation.
The public service HR system had become outdated and cumbersome. In addition, it was inefficient and did not allow us to respond quickly to an increasingly competitive labour market, as well as growing public expectations for service excellence.
These are some of the drivers requiring the public service to rethink how it recruits, develops, manages and retains its employees.
These are the reasons that gave birth to the Public Service Modernization Act in 2003, and these reasons still apply to a great extent today.
The Public Service Modernization Act represents the single biggest changed public service human resource management in more than 35 years. The act was designed to modernize staffing, to promote more collaborative labour management relations, to focus on learning and training for employees at all levels, and to clarify and strengthen the roles and accountability of managers.
The act is comprised of four individual acts, key among them being the new Public Service Employment Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act.
The act provides the legislative framework to modernize our HR policies and processes. In effect, it is the foundation and the enabler of renewal. It's the cornerstone of our larger and ongoing strategy to equip the public service to serve the changing needs of Canadians with excellence.
Implementation of the act requires a shift in public service culture, from rules-based to values-based. While no one expected the Public Service Modernization Act to receive such a major cultural shift in the year and a half since it has come into force, we need to bring this new infrastructure to maturity and to take full advantage of the benefits of the act. We are continuing to work to ensure that managers and HR professionals are well equipped with the tools and advice they need to hire the right people at the right time.
We know we're on the right track. We're receiving recognition for our efforts. In fact, at a government technology conference here in Ottawa in October, an international event, the agency's work in re-engineering HR infrastructure was praised. Only this fall, agency officials, in concert with the Public Service Commission, have organized some very successful workshops across Canada to increase understanding of the shifting roles and responsibility of managers and HR professionals, as well as the flexibilities embedded in the new Public Service Employment Act.
The other area in which we are asking for supplementary funding of $2.898 million is to support the implementation of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. The purpose of this act is to encourage employees in the public sector to come forward if they have reasons to believe that serious wrongdoing has taken place and to provide protection to them against reprisal when they do so. It also provides a fair and objective process for those against whom allegations are made.
Implementation of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act will help to enhance a sustained and supported ethical culture in the public service and increase public trust in our organizations.