Government Operations Committee on Nov. 22nd, 2011

[John McBain]

Yes, and also we provide services on behalf of other government departments. If they need a bridge, or a dam, or a building constructed, we will engage the private sector, and we will recover the costs from them for those functions.

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

What percentage of the 57% is cost recovery from outside of government, as opposed to government paying government?

[Alex Lakroni]

It's very minimal.

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Very minimal, okay.

[Alex Lakroni]

But to answer your question about the top three, real property services are up there. The second one is telecom informatic services, but this service has now been fully transferred to the new shared services, Shared Services Canada. The third one is translation services. There is about $200 million to $220 million in revenue for translation.

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Thank you.

I have a question on a specific item on the summary on page 128. There's roughly $3.4 million for “Reinvestment of revenues from the sale or transfer of real property”. Could you elaborate on what that amount represents? Part of the reason I'm asking is that I'm wondering why a revenue source--if that's what this is--would form part of your ask.

[John McBain]

That's a great question. Thank you.

Federal government policy allows for custodian organizations, when they sell a property, to ask the government for access to the proceeds of sale for the reinvestment in their remaining inventory.

From December 1, 2010 through to March 31, 2011, the department had 68 transactions disposing of surplus properties and holdings across the country. That resulted in $3.4 million net revenue being deposited in the consolidated revenue fund. Consistent with federal government policy, we have asked for access to that money from selling our assets to take those funds and reinvest them in our real property holdings.

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Okay, and is that a fairly common annual occurrence?

[John McBain]

Yes, it is. It obviously flows with your sales and your volumes in terms of disposals.

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Does the sale of real property by the government, when it's appropriate and legitimate, represent an effective source of revenue? Also, are there opportunities in the coming two or three years to look at those sorts of transactions?

[John McBain]

It can, but PWGSC itself is not a large custodian of properties. We own 340 buildings, as I said earlier, but there are in excess of 50,000 in the federal inventory. There are 23 federal custodian organizations. They need to look at their holdings in terms of what is core to their programs and what could be disposed of.

But certainly some of them are quite significant. The Canada Lands Company, for example, handles strategic disposals where they seek to maximize the return for the crown.

So it can and it does generate significant revenues for the government at large.

[The Chair, NDP, Pat Martin]

That's about it for your time, Peter. Thank you.

I have just one question before we move to the next questioners.

Can you confirm or deny what I've heard about the West Block renovation, which is that one of the most costly features is the glassed-in dome under which the chamber will actually be housed? Now they find that you can't use the television cameras with all that natural light, so they're going to have to build some way to curtain off the atrium they're building. Is this one of the additional costs we're hearing about in the escalating costs of the renovation of the West Block?

[Pierre-Marc Mongeau]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The approximate total cost of the structure that will be built to cover the interior courtyard is $140 million. Our architects and engineers are currently working on designing the roof, which will have to provide excellent acoustics. As for lighting, the panels will be adjustable to reduce natural light and allow the use of cameras. This will also allow more regular lighting. There is still work to be done. We are working on finalizing solutions with experts from across Canada.

[The Chair, NDP, Pat Martin]

It sounds like a staggeringly expensive feature, but I just wanted to get confirmation. I understand, then, that the answer is yes, we're having problems designing this atrium so that it can accommodate the television cameras going in the chamber.

[Pierre-Marc Mongeau]

This falls under the challenges that such an innovative project may entail. Is it a difficulty? There are plenty of difficulties in a new project, and there are many issues to be considered. I would not call these difficulties, but rather a challenge, if you will.

Thank you.

[The Chair, NDP, Pat Martin]

Thank you.

Denis Blanchette.

[Denis Blanchette, NDP, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to talk about the new organizations that are involved with you. I'm thinking of the Canada Lands Company and the Old Port of Montreal Corporation. Could you please explain what happened with both entities and how you are going to incorporate them into the department?

[Alex Lakroni]

Thank you for the question.

The Canada Lands Corporation and its divisions, including the Old Port of Montreal Corporation, were transferred to our department. Our department became the one responsible for these Crown corporations. They are not part of the Department of Public Works and Government Services, but they are attached to the Public Works portfolio.

For example, I am the chief financial officer of the Department of Public Works and Government Services, but I am not the chief financial officer of the Old Port of Montreal Corporation.

[Denis Blanchette, NDP, Louis-Hébert, QC]

That's right.

Now, what exactly is the situation with the Canada Lands Corporation?

[Alex Lakroni]

Would you like to take that question...?

It's a subsidiary of the Canada Lands Corporation that is totally independent from Public Works and Government Services Canada. Our minister is responsible for these organizations, these Crown corporations. What you want to know more about is—

[Denis Blanchette, NDP, Louis-Hébert, QC]

No. You are announcing here amounts of money for the integration. So I wanted to know what these amounts would basically be used for.

[Alex Lakroni]

Okay.

These amounts, so the $354,000, will be used to manage everything related to administering communications. There are internal costs, costs that existed previously with Transport Canada, because Transport Canada managed that Crown corporation. These amounts have now been transferred to Public Works and Government Services Canada.

[Denis Blanchette, NDP, Louis-Hébert, QC]

So it's simply a matter of departmental responsibility.

[Alex Lakroni]

Absolutely.

[Denis Blanchette, NDP, Louis-Hébert, QC]

I would like to come back to cyber authentication. The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology is currently holding meetings on Internet technologies, specifically electronic payment systems. In acquiring a new cyber authentication solution, have you taken into account how technologies have been evolving? In this committee, we were told at one point that a new payment ecosystem was being created. How will the system you are acquiring be able to fit in with these new payment ecosystems?