Evidence of meeting #4 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 40th Parliament, 3rd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was going.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Conservative
Stockwell Day Conservative Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
Yes.
We have indicated that we will freeze the budget for each department in the years following this one. There are reasons for this.
Take the discussion on salaries, for instance. It is important to recognize that there is a legal process in place to frame the salary negotiations of public servants. Therefore, the government has no right to issue an order limiting pay increases to 2, 3 or 4%. That is not our job. Discussions are ongoing with the relevant agency.
Each department has a budgetary envelope. If a department chooses to increase its employees' salaries, it will have to adjust expenditures elsewhere, because each department has a set budget.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
Mr. Minister, I asked you how the Treasury Board Secretariat determined the amount at vote 30, which covers parental benefits, separation pay and other types of benefits. If I understand correctly, that is what vote 30 is all about.
Am I mistaken when I say that this amount does not necessarily include salaries, but rather benefits?
Conservative
Stockwell Day Conservative Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
Yes. Vote 1 will be frozen, and negotiation on benefits can continue. But it is not up to me to indicate today what will happen with benefits.
However, the amount at vote 1 will be frozen.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
So they will be frozen. Why has the amount not changed over the years? That is what I do not understand.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
There must be people who leave government, people who are on parental leave, or who receive other types of leave. How do you know that you will need exactly the same amount again? That is what I do not understand.
Conservative
Stockwell Day Conservative Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
The benefits will not change. Salaries will have to respect the levels we have set for the departments. However, benefits will be maintained. Each department will decide how to manage its expenditures. There will not be a problem as long as the departments generally follow the rules.
Conservative
Stockwell Day Conservative Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
Salaries are included in the overall amount which will be set in the 2010-2011 budget.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
That is fine, Mr. Minister.
I have another question. In supplementary estimates (C), we can see that there is a decrease in the amounts to be paid out by the guaranteed income supplement on the basis of the projected number of beneficiaries and the average monthly rate.
This means that $228 million will not be paid in guaranteed income supplement benefits and will be returned to the Canadian treasury.
However, on May 27, 2009, the opposition parties supported a statement made by the Bloc Québécois that said that the situation of tens of thousands of seniors left in the lurch due to defects in the guaranteed income supplement was entirely unacceptable. The parties said that the guaranteed income supplement program had to be changed, that it had to include a full retroactivity for the amounts due to the beneficiaries, that there should be a $110 increase in the GIS monthly benefits, and also that persons aged 65 and over who are entitled should be given supplementary benefits for more than six months.
Given that there is a $228 million surplus, do you intend to implement this motion which was adopted in the House of Commons by all the parties except yours, of course, on May 27, 2009?
Conservative
Stockwell Day Conservative Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
We will always take the suggestions made by the opposition parities into consideration. However, we must note that although the population has declined, the rates will continue to go up.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
Mr. Minister, you have a $228-million surplus.
Could we not envisage giving every senior an extra $110 a month in guaranteed income supplements, in view of the fact that your surplus will go back to the government treasury, and that it had been expected that the $228 million would be paid out?
Conservative
Stockwell Day Conservative Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
Today, I cannot make a statement about future rates. However, we will see the rates continuing to go up. It is not up to me to cite the exact amount here today.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
When you tell me that the rates will go up, does it mean that seniors will get the larger amount in their guaranteed income supplement? Is that really what you mean?
Conservative
Stockwell Day Conservative Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
We consider normal price levels and inflation. There is much pressure and we must decide exactly what we are going to do.
In past years, the rates went up. Of course, we could go on reviewing the amount and we will see if there is any increase in the rates.
Liberal
Conservative
