Government Operations Committee on Dec. 3rd, 2009

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

If my officials don't have that answer with them now, I can look to see whether that information is available and get back to you.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Thank you.

We now go to Monsieur Gourde, for eight minutes.

Merci.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Minister, for being here today. I would also like to thank the witnesses from Treasury Board Secretariat.

Mr. Minister, could you tell me what Treasury Board Secretariat has done over the years to ensure that Parliament has all the information it needs to scrutinize the government's expenses?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

I'm going to let some of the officials answer that, but I want to say that it is the constant preoccupation of Treasury Board to ensure that dollars being spent are being spent properly.

One of the largest undertakings that we made was in fact the strategic review that was referred to both in my speech and in one of the questions. In that, essentially we examine one-quarter of the government's so-called discretionary spending each year and ask the departments within that envelope to come and identify for us the 5% lowest-performing programs within their department. Those are then examined by Treasury Board to see whether or not these dollars are still being spent effectively and efficiently and whether they still meet with the priorities of Canada and Canadians.

Simply because a dollar is being spent efficiently on a program doesn't mean the program is still relevant in the 21st century. That's part of the overall responsibilities we have at Treasury Board.

Perhaps I'll allow the secretary or one of the others to respond to that as they see fit.

[Alister Smith]

Thank you for the question.

We do, of course, keep very close tabs on government spending through the whole estimates process. Through these supplementary estimates and main estimates you see all the requests for new resources.

In addition, as the minister said, we look at the so-called A-base budgets of departments through strategical reviews. We review one-quarter of government spending every year. Over a four-year cycle we will have covered 100% of direct program spending.

Also, through the economic action plan and quarterly reports, there's very close scrutiny, as you can see, of all the initiatives in the economic action plan.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Mr. Minister, budget documents are known to be complex. In recent years, we have seen a number of changes made in order to simplify those documents and make them easier to read and understand.

Could you tell us exactly what changes were made and what other changes you plan on making in the future?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Again, Mr. Smith can answer that.

Thank you for the question.

[Alister Smith]

Thank you again for the question.

They are complex. We have tried, however, to make them more readable and digestible for members. For example, in these supplementary estimates, we've tagged everything that is a Budget 2009 initiative. You can follow those requests right through the document.

We also grouped together all the horizontal requests. Whenever there is a request for more than one department, we have a listing of all those requests. We also identify all the allocations from Treasury Board central votes--for example, Treasury Board vote 5, or vote 15 with all the compensation adjustments. We lay those out separately so that members can get them in one place.

Most importantly, at the level of department and ministry where they've made a request, we break down the nature of the request. If you look through the summaries here you can see the exact reason for the request and what vote it applies to. We try to break this down to make it a little more digestible for members.

Of course, we would welcome any other suggestions you might have to improve the documents.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

You have two minutes remaining.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Minister, why is Treasury Board Secretariat requesting so much money under vote 15?

[Hélène Laurendeau, Assistant Deputy Minister, Compensation and Labour Relations, Treasury Board Secretariat]

We had many collective agreements.

Moreover, a number of decisions were made regarding compensation over the last year or during the forecast period. It is necessary to extend beyond the financial framework and transfer the necessary funding to various departments in order to be able to top up the salaries affected by the entire decision-making process. The transfer of those funds can be found under vote 15.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Thank you.

How did the strategic review of vote 20, as announced in the budget, affect Treasury Board Secretariat's ability to manage and deliver the public service's benefits?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Thank you.

Treasury Board Secretariat reviewed its approach to managing employee and pensioner benefits with a view to increasing cost-effectiveness and enhancing accountability, and as a result of this review, changes were made to reduce the costs of managing and administering benefit programs and to better align benefit programs to employee and pensioner needs. As a result of this review, benefit plans will be aligned with industry standards, they will be more cost-effective, they will be balanced and effective, and they will support, I believe, the renewal of the public service.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Mr. Minister, could you tell us the amount that was needed to establish the recently created office of the chief human resources officer?

[Michelle d'Auray]

Madam Chair, the office of the chief human resources officer, which I had the pleasure of leading when it was first established, was created by merging HRSDC functions with some of the human resources management functions of Treasury Board Secretariat. The consolidation generated cost-effectiveness. The activities are now integrated within Treasury Board Secretariat. We have avoided redundancies and reduced related program spending in order to increase effectiveness and, in so doing, we have recognized the leading role played by deputy ministers in human resources management.

We acknowledged and followed up on the recommendations of the working group of the advisory committee on the public service, which was established by the Prime Minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Thank you very much.

We now go to Mr. Martin for eight minutes.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister, I'd like to begin where Madam Hall Findlay left off, or at least ask one supplementary question along those lines.

If the finance minister is correct that 97% of all the stimulus funding has been committed and only 3% hasn't been spoken for, why is there any need to do any additional advertising, much less the $13 million that Madam Hall Findlay seems to have identified in the supplementary estimates? What are we advertising?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

You'll have to speak to the Minister of Finance as to that need. I believe he can answer that question.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

But the President of the Treasury Board is asking permission of Parliament to spend that money.

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

That's correct. But if you want to look at the specific reasons why there should be advertising on any particular program, he'd be in the best position to answer that.

I don't know if my staff has any additional comments to make.

[Michelle d'Auray]

If I may, Madam Chair, only an additional $5 million has been requested for advertising in the supplementary estimates, and it is for the activities related to the home renovation tax credit program, and that is still going on because that can go on—

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

We had you guys in here earlier, your counterparts, on the home renovation tax credit program. How many millions was it? I think they're hanging three million of those door hangers on three million homes. That became an issue. I don't know how much more you could advertise that program with the timeframe running out. There are only a couple of months left for people to avail themselves of that tax credit. They've already carpet bombed Canada with advertising regarding the home tax credit, and it's been very popular and the pickup has been enormous. You do have to wonder why we should approve another $5 million that may just be blowing the government's horn more than informing Canadians about a program they're already well aware of.

I don't think you're going to comment on that, Minister, so I will leave that.

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Ms. d'Auray will.

[Michelle d'Auray]

If I may, one component of that advertising reminds Canadians to keep their receipts for filing, which is a very important point.