Government Operations Committee on Nov. 18th, 2010

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, AB]

So am I going to be afforded the privilege to speak here? Mr. Martin has had ten minutes so far. I don't understand the process. Can you explain the process to me?

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

You can approach the chair and we'll explain the process to you, but you're out of time.

Mr. Regan, you have five minutes. It's not like they're going to be invited over to Mr. Calkins' house any time soon.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

One of my colleagues mentioned Pier 21 and its significance. Parliament unanimously passed a motion or a bill to make Pier 21 a national museum. It's a place of national significance. Compare that to Parry Sound. I view Parry Sound as a special place. It is hallowed ground, because it's the birthplace of Bobby Orr. But I don't know that the sidewalk upgrade included his footprint or that the tree replacement done there had anything to do with him, let alone with the G-8 or G-20 summits.

Today we have nine witnesses from five departments. Witnesses will understand the reason for that, but perhaps the audience at home might not. If we had only one department, some of the questions we'd ask would have the answer, “You can't ask us that, some other department has to answer it”.

Let me ask this question about FedNor. On February 27 of last year, the industry minister announced that FedNor would be looking for G-8-related tourism projects. In fact, Minister Clement's release said that “FedNor is beginning a review of regional tourism opportunities associated with hosting the G-8 Summit in 2010 that will help the area put its best foot forward”.

Shortly after that, it was announced that the Bigwin steamboat would receive about $400,000 for restoration. The Bigwin steamboat eventually launched in July, several weeks after the end of the G-8 summit. If the boat wasn't ready for dignitaries, foreign journalists, or delegations, how can it be considered a G-8 tourism project?

[France Pégeot]

The boat was funded within an existing budget from FedNor and it was funded for its touristic merit and was funded according to the terms and conditions of the northern Ontario development program. Part of the reason the boat wasn't ready was that the renovation of this boat required some very specialized services from a person who actually got sick and could not complete the work on time. So the project has been extended and it will eventually be completed.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

But it's been listed in the G-8 funding money, right?

[France Pégeot]

It's related to the G-8, but all projects from FedNor have been funded from existing budgets.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

So didn't the department know in advance that it would require all this work and that it wouldn't be finished until weeks after the whole event was over?

[France Pégeot]

Initially when the project was approved it was expected that it would be funded on time, until the gentleman who was doing the major renovation work, which is very specialized work, got sick.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

So was there only one person who could do the work? You relied on that for this to be done on time. And how much was it? It was $400,000 right?

Okay, let's move on.

Of course in relation to the question of the OPP and its $100 million, you pointed out that the deadline that was in the original documents, or whatever, said it was December 1. It's not the department's fault that the Prime Minister chose to set November 29 as the by-election date, that he chose a date conveniently two days in advance of that date.

But let me turn to what was happening with FedNor. For both FedNor and the G-8 legacy fund, economic action plan signs were required. You've indicated that today. So both had the same requirements. I understand that money could not flow to any of those projects unless there was an economic action plan sign present there. Is that correct?

[France Pégeot]

For FedNor, I'm not aware of that, but we can check that.

Again, the projects related to the G-8 funded by FedNor were funded under the northern Ontario development program, which is the existing program. So there were no additional funds given to FedNor for those projects.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

I want to be clear that I don't want to disparage any of the civil servants here at all. My questions are directed in view of the fact that ministers are responsible, as the government, and if you want to talk about the government's appreciation for civil servants, we can ask Munir Sheikh, Linda Keen, Peter Tinsley, or Pat Stogran about that.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Mr. Regan.

Mr. Calkins, for five minutes.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, AB]

Okay, thank you, Chair.

Mr. Conrad, do you remember where I left off with that last line of questioning?

[Bryce Conrad]

Yes, I do.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, AB]

Are there any of the rest of you who can speak to that? It's all about the timelines of when we knew we were hosting the G-8, when the budget allocation was made for the legacy projects, when we knew about the G-20, and when that budget process started.

[Bryce Conrad]

Yes, absolutely. Thanks for this question.

Obviously, the G-8 legacy fund, as we referenced a couple of times this morning here, was included as an item in the 2009 budget, which was, I believe, January 28, 2009. It is my understand that the G-20 summit location was not identified until in and around the Pittsburgh summit, which would have been in September 2009, so after the budget cycle.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, AB]

Okay. So it makes sense, then, I guess, putting things together, that we couldn't have budgeted for something we didn't know we were going to host in budget 2009.

And it would have been inappropriate to take something out of the budget and use it for another purpose. I think there are some rules about those kinds of things. Is that not the case?

[Bryce Conrad]

I'm sure there are.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, AB]

Yes, I'm pretty sure there are.

Mr. Chowdhury, you talked a little bit about this dinnerware that was purchased. You said it was going to be redistributed. It's been brought back to the national capital region to be redistributed, is that right?

[Sanjeev Chowdhury]

Yes. In fact, about two to three months ago it was shipped back from the Deerhurst Resort. We transferred the asset to the National Capital Commission and they have indicated to us that they will be using those items within their official residence network.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, AB]

Can you give us any other examples? Are there any other examples of where these purchases that have been made might have to be redistributed? What's the process for disposition of these types of things that might be a one-use type of thing? How does the taxpayer get some value back on these one-time expenditures?

[Sanjeev Chowdhury]

There are some things that inevitably become a one-use kind of situation. An example would be a table for 35 people. What we have tried to do—

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, AB]

You don't need one of those in your home, Mr. Chowdhury?

[Sanjeev Chowdhury]

No.

For example, as my colleague from Public Works pointed out, we were able to reuse tables from 2002, in Kananaskis. We actually used that in the Deerhurst Resort for the leaders because it's the right size for ten people to sit around the table.

Where possible, we keep all of our assets. For example, all of the furniture that we purchased and used in 2001 for La Francophonie and for other summits we reuse in our offices now. So we take it from the warehouse.

If we do a determination that storing something...or that an item has a one-time use, we try to sell it. So we have posted things on the government websites to try to sell it to the public. And we try to get the highest bid that we can to dispose of certain assets. But where possible we keep them. We have a warehouse here in Ottawa and we just reuse the things whenever possible.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, AB]

We know we're going to be hosting these events again in future. We're obligated--