Evidence of meeting #38 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was advertising.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:20 p.m.
NDP
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
With all due respect, I think it's being rethought because of the public outrage at the room for abuse that's going on. This is not new technology. YouTube is not new. Twitter is not new. Facebook is not new.
November 3rd, 2009 / 4:20 p.m.
Secretary of the Treasury Board, Treasury Board Secretariat
Perhaps it may not be new, but it is not something that the Government of Canada has envisaged in its official communications activities.
We have tried it. We have looked at it in a number of ways, and we're trying to come to grips with what it means when other people feed into a social network site that we link up to. That's all. At this point, given that the communications policy is silent on these issues, we have started to examine how best we can make use of those social networking tools in the Government of Canada communications--
4:20 p.m.
NDP
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Without being cheerleaders for the ruling party, I would hope.
Could I ask one last specific question? You said that MPs are not covered by the policy regarding ceremonial cheques. Ministers are, or their designates are, but an MP doing the exact same task can put a Conservative Party of Canada logo on his or her cheque and not worry about the wordmark or anything else, if they're not acting as a designated ministerial spokesperson.
When Gerald Keddy is handing a cheque over on behalf of the Government of Canada, surely he is performing the function that the minister would have performed, were the minister available. In that case, he is the designated spokesperson for the government, is he not?
4:20 p.m.
Secretary of the Treasury Board, Treasury Board Secretariat
When a member of Parliament acts as a designated spokesperson for the government, that means the department acts as the support mechanism for the communications activities, so there is in fact a direct link between the minister acting as a spokesperson and his or her designate. In this instance, and we have had a look at a number of these activities, members of Parliament who were not acting as designated spokespersons are not supported or covered by the communications and federal identity policy.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi
Thank you.
Mr. Martin, thank you.
We'll now go to Madam Foote for five minutes.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'm sitting here and sometimes hearing the answers with some disbelief. I want to ask each of our witnesses if they are serving at the pleasure of the Prime Minister, all four of you.
4:25 p.m.
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
Yes, we are.
4:25 p.m.
Secretary of the Treasury Board, Treasury Board Secretariat
I am. I don't think Mr. Hurcomb is.
4:25 p.m.
Philip Hurcomb Assistant Secretary, Treasury Board Secretariat
No. I work for the secretariat.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
Okay.
I want to ask a question in terms of the creation of the economic action plan. In coming up with the plan itself, was all of your advice taken in terms of actually coming up with the economic action plan?
4:25 p.m.
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
Again, with respect to the honourable member, I cannot divulge what advice I provided as secretary of the Treasury Board, in this case, if we go back to that, and as to what specific advice the President of the Treasury Board or the board accepted or did not accept. That is confidential information between me, as a senior adviser, and my minister in this case.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
Okay. Let me just ask a question, then, and I guess I won't ask for specifics. But did you provide any advice that was not accepted?
4:25 p.m.
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
I'm not prepared to comment on what advice was accepted or not accepted. That is our system. We are public servants.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
4:25 p.m.
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
We provide confidential advice to ministers, some of which is accepted, and some advice which is not accepted.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
That wasn't the question. The question was: did you provide any advice that wasn't accepted? I'm not asking for particulars.
4:25 p.m.
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
I'm not going to go back in terms of my advice to the President of the Treasury Board, what is accepted and what...I'm not prepared to get into that discussion as to what was accepted or not accepted, and whether it was accepted or whether it was not accepted.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
Okay. Let me ask, then, what department was actually responsible for the creation of the economic action plan?
4:25 p.m.
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
Well, the economic action plan was essentially a plan that was developed by a number of departments, with the central agencies, the Treasury Board, the Department of Finance, and the PCO, all providing oversight coordination roles. So it essentially was a plan that was developed by public servants across the public service, working through cabinet and cabinet committees.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
Would the Prime Minister's Office have had anyone sit in on the discussions with respect to the development of the economic action plan?
4:25 p.m.
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
The Prime Minister's Office is represented at cabinet committees. This is a long-standing tradition. They are there to observe and hear discussions. As I say, this is a long-standing tradition--
4:25 p.m.
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
--as long as I've been a public servant.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
--to observe and hear discussions.
Did they have any input into actually what comprises the economic action plan?
4:25 p.m.
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
Again, I'm not going to divulge what the cabinet discussions were. Like any initiative, we provide advice to ministers. That advice goes to ministers. Normally a minister's office will have views on that advice. In my case, as Clerk of the Privy Council, I provide my advice to my minister, the Prime Minister, and the political staff of the Prime Minister provide their advice.
The Prime Minister, based on that advice coming from the political side and from me, the public service, will make his decision. That's our system of government. That's how it works in departments and how it works in the Privy Council Office.