Government Operations Committee on May 10th, 2010

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Order. The clock says 3:30. Welcome all members.

We have before us, to discuss the main estimates for the PCO, from the Privy Council, Marilyn MacPherson, the assistant deputy minister, corporate services branch; and Monsieur Yvan Roy, deputy secretary to the cabinet and counsel to the Clerk of the Privy Council.

I understand, Madame MacPherson, that you have some opening remarks to make.

The floor is yours. Thank you.

[Marilyn MacPherson, Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services Branch, Privy Council Office]

Good afternoon Madam Chair and members of the committee.

I am pleased to be here today on behalf of the Privy Council Office. As you said, I am accompanied by Yvan Roy.

My introductory comments pertain to the 2010-11 Main Estimates for the Privy Council Office (PCO) and I will speak to these without further preamble.

PCO's Main Estimates for 2010-11 total $143.9 million. Resources are allocated as follows: 52% of our resources are spent on providing to the Prime Ministers and portfolio Ministers support and advice; 33% for internal services; 12% on providing Cabinet and Cabinet Committees advice and support; and 3% on providing the Public Service leadership and direction.

Since 2009-10, Internal Services are now being presented as a separate Program Activity (PA), in the Main Estimates as per the Treasury Board Secretariat standardized profile of the Government of Canada's Internal Services. In prior years, Corporate Services budgets and expenses were pro-rated based on the weight of each program activity.

For internal services, please note that PCO operates in a highly centralized and unique environment, where many costs normally assumed by line mangers are covered by the corporate services and not reallocated to the individual programs. These costs include all informatics and technical services, which include protected and classified networks, furniture and equipment, supplies, printing and graphics, messenger services, telecommunications, and review of cabinet confidence information in order to protect prior and current cabinet information.

The overall increase of $15.2 million to PCO's financial requirements, from $128.78 million for 2009-10 to $143.95 million for 2010-11, is mainly related to the following. There is $7.6 million to permanently fund the chronic funding pressures in the department and to ensure that PCO can continue to provide the necessary advice, services, and support to the Prime Minister's Office and portfolio ministers of the department.

The funding will be used for a number of purposes, including providing advice, services, and support to the Prime Minister; providing support to the Prime Minister and his office in the preparation of and during his participation at events in Canada and outside the country; providing communications advice, service, and support to the Prime Minister and his office; increased translation services associated with the dissemination of more communications products in order that Canadians may have access to as much information as possible on what the Prime Minister and his cabinet are doing on their behalf; and additional costs to support portfolio ministers' offices.

Any additional costs would normally be absorbed within a department, and this is the case with most departments that have only one minister's office. PCO provides funding to five ministers' offices, which includes the newly created Office of the Minister of State for Democratic Reform. We cannot absorb all costs within the existing appropriations from Parliament.

Finally, there are costs associated with providing ongoing corporate administrative services and support.

There is $3.6 million required related to the funding for the coordination of a government-wide communications strategy for Canada's economic action plan. The EAP money is time-limited for 2009-10 and for 2010-11.

There is $3.4 million for collective bargaining agreements.

There is $1.8 million for the ongoing operation of the public service renewal task force branch, which was transferred from the Canada Public Service Agency.

There is $0.69 million to permanently fund the Canada-Australia exchange program. This program will formalize the exchange of public servants between Canada and Australia, encourage the sharing of best practices, and provide professional and career development opportunities.

There is $0.1 million for the Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182. This new funding is needed in 2010-11 only by the commission, since delays occurred in the availability and with the submissions of documents, slowing the drafting of the report. In order to provide useful recommendations to the Governor in Council, particular care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the narrative and the practicality and appropriateness of any proposed solutions.

This is offset by the following decreases.

First is the $1 million for the winding down, in 2010-11, of operations for the Office of the Coordinator for 2010 Olympics and G8 Security. The office will cease its activities during the 2010-11 fiscal year.

Second, $0.3 million for the expenditure controls and public opinion research.

Third, the reduction of $0.3 million for the efficiency savings announced in budget 2007. This relates to procurement efficiencies.

Next is the $0.2 million for a permanent transfer to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade for the Canada-Australia exchange program. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade will provide all services related to the relocation, travel, and housing of Canadian participants under the common services abroad policy. An amount of $0.2 million is being transferred from PCO to DFAIT for that purpose.

Finally, there's the amount of $0.1 million for a permanent reduction for the implementation of a funding strategy for the comprehensive component of the 2011 census of population.

In closing, I would like to thank you for giving me this time to inform you of the initiatives in the 2010-11 main estimates.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Thank you very much.

We'll go to the first round of questions.

Ms. Siobhan Coady, you have eight minutes.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Thank you very much.

I certainly appreciate your both coming here today and providing us this information. I appreciate your availability.

A couple of key questions that I want to ask here have to do with the estimates versus the planned spending by program activity, if I might go there.

I understood from the estimates that there was $74.462 million allocated for the Prime Minister's and portfolio ministers' support and advice. However, your planning and priorities says $75.465 million, basically $1 million more.

Can you describe to me what that difference might be?

[Marilyn MacPherson]

I don't have the details of the difference, although I could certainly get them.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

I'd appreciate seeing why there is a change from the estimates to your planning and priorities document.

I also want to ask about the announced budget freeze. As you know, you're getting a fairly significant increase in your budget from last year. I'm wondering what impact you see happening on the go-forward from this.

As you know, for 2010-11 you have an increase, or you're anticipating that. I understand from your planning and priorities documents you are still going to maintain some of that.

What are your plans at this point?

[Marilyn MacPherson]

With respect to the spending freeze and the measures that are put into place, the main implication for the Privy Council Office is with respect to absorbing the costs for collective agreements. In the 2010-11 year, we are expecting our managers to absorb that increase. It is relatively small, 1.5%.

We are also one of the departments that are implicated in the strategic review process this year. So we will be going through our priority-setting and looking at our reduction process, going forward from 2012. During that process, we will look at options and considerations for being able to absorb ongoing spending freeze requirements.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

According to your report on plans and priorities, you have identified about $3.6 million of spending, and the employment of 20 full-time equivalents on communications for the economic action plan in 2010-11.

What does PCO specifically communicate, or is that simply a mechanism to allow the Prime Minister's Office to have more availability of communications specialists?

[Marilyn MacPherson]

The economic action plan funds are for the PCO communications and consultation branch. Last year they provided for the development of the guidelines and the overall advertising campaign for the economic action plan. And they were also responsible for setting up the website.

Ongoing for this fiscal year, they will continue to coordinate--as is their role under the communications policy for the government--the interdepartmental communications activities to ensure that there is a coherent approach to EAP. They will also continue to give full communications support to the Prime Minister and other ministers in PCO for EAP events and announcements. They will continue to do media monitoring on these events and on the announcements, and they will continue to provide advice and monitoring on the progress of the EAP signage and project sites.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

So once the EAP comes to a conclusion in the next year, is this where you anticipate being able to save your 5% or to go back to regular spending levels?

[Marilyn MacPherson]

The $3.6 million and all of the funding that came with the economic action plan are terminal. They will end as of the year 2010-11. They will not be available for us to put forward as part of our 5% cut for strategic review.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

So you take that off, and then you take off another 5%?

[Marilyn MacPherson]

That's correct.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

So those 20 full-time equivalents are either absorbed under current funding allocations or appropriations or they would have to be laid off, one of the two. Is that right?

[Marilyn MacPherson]

Because we knew that the EAP was a two-year project only, the funding strategy and the resourcing strategy for the people included asking departments for secondments. So most of the staff who are involved are seconded employees, and they will return to their departments as we wind down EAP over the next few months to the end of 2010-11.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

That's interesting; so they'll just move back out--

[Marilyn MacPherson]

That's correct.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

--and you'll have that reduction, then, as a go-forward?

[Marilyn MacPherson]

That's correct.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Okay.

Now, you're continuing, I notice, to allocate funds--you requested $1.1 million--for the Public Appointments Commission Secretariat, and it employs four full-time equivalents.

When is it going to actually be established? You have a tremendous amount of money and resources there. What's happening?

[Marilyn MacPherson]

For the public appointments commission, the appointment of a commissioner is the prerogative of the Prime Minister. We have received no indication that there will not be a commissioner appointed, so we continue to put in a marker for the funding of four FTEs and $1 million to support the commission.

There is a secretariat in place, which was created at the same time as the commission, and there is one individual who continues to work on preparing documentation and information for when the commission is actually set up.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Do you have a total amount that you've spent on that particular Public Appointments Commission Secretariat to date?

[Marilyn MacPherson]

I can give you some information by year. We spent $633,000 in 2006-07; $113,000 in 2007-08; and $347,000 in 2008-09. We have not closed the books on 2009-10, but it's around $290,000, I believe.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

So you're up to approximately $1.4 million, plus now another $1.1 million?

[Marilyn MacPherson]

That's correct.