Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Members of the committee, good afternoon.
My name is Alex Lakroni, and I am the Chief Financial Officer at Public Works and Government Services Canada. With me are John McBain, Assistant Deputy Minister of Real Property Branch, and Pierre-Marc Mongeau, Assistant Deputy Minister of Parliamentary Precinct Branch.
We are pleased to be here today as part of your review of the supplementary estimates (B), which were tabled on November 3.
Firstly, I would like to provide you with a high-level overview of the department's activities and its budget.
PWGSC plays an important role in the daily operations of the Government of Canada. As its principal banker, accountant, central purchasing agent, linguistic authority, and real property manager, we manage a diverse portfolio of real estate that accommodates 269,000 federal employees in 1,849 locations across Canada; we facilitate approximately 55,000 procurement-related transactions for goods and services worth about $16.7 billion per year; we manage the preparation of the annual Public Accounts of Canada and cash flow of more than $2 trillion a year through the operations of the federal treasury; we translate more than 1.7 million pages a year for federal departments and agencies, and provide translation and interpretation services for more than 1,700 sessions of the House of Commons, the Senate and parliamentary committees like this one.
PWGSC's financial structure is more complex than that of many other departments.
Turning to the department's total budget for 2011-12, PWGSC will spend $6.4 billion this fiscal year to deliver its mandate.
The department is heavily dependent on revenue, with 57% of its expenditures, or $3.6 billion, covered by revenue, as I mentioned earlier, primarily from client government departments for services rendered in support of their programs. This leaves a net appropriation of $2.8 billion approved by Parliament.
Of the $6.4-billion total budget, $1.1 billion is needed to deliver on our core programs, such as central purchasing and banking, public accounts, and payroll and pension services; $2.5 billion is required to pay for rent, fit-up, and utilities for government-wide accommodation, Receiver General treasury functions, such as banking fees paid to financial institutions, cheques, and envelopes, and translation services to Parliament; $502 million in capital is needed to invest in Government of Canada buildings and infrastructure; $2.3 billion is related to providing other services, such as real property and translation services, to client departments; and $5.2 million is required for contributions by the Translation Bureau to the language industry in Canada.
These supplementary estimates (B) request net funding of $125 million previously approved by the Treasury Board, resulting in a net appropriation of $2.8 billion for PWGSC.
I will briefly describe each major item now and will be happy to address your questions at the end.
In support of the long term vision and plan for the parliamentary precinct, PWGSC is requesting $64.5 million for the continued rehabilitation of the Parliament Buildings. Over the last few years, we have completed 15 projects on time and on or below budget, allowing us to vacate and start the much-needed rehabilitation of the West Block and the Wellington Building.
Another $39 million is needed for the additional office accommodation that PWGSC is mandated to provide to government departments and agencies. The cost of operating and maintaining buildings under the custody of PWGSC is approximately $2.2 billion annually.
In support of the cyber authentication renewal--e-pass replacement--initiative, $16.5 million is required for the implementation of a system to enable secure online transactions by Canadians by improving the protection of their identity and privacy and modernizing the authentication services.
PWGSC is responsible for meeting the accommodation needs of federal employees across Canada through a variety of approaches, including owning, leasing, and, most recently, public-private partnerships, or P3s. An amount of $15 million is required for the national investment strategy in order to make capital investments to preserve the useful life of crown-owned buildings.
In order to deliver phase two of the federal contaminated sites initiative, $5.2 million is required for the assessment, management, and remediation of contaminated sites.
In the current period of fiscal restraint, PWGSC will make good on its strategic review commitments made in Budget 2011, as evidenced by the $16.5 million in reductions included in this document. The department has fully met the objectives of the strategic review exercise for this fiscal year.
There are other smaller adjustments to the appropriations, and we would be pleased to provide additional details about these, if you wish.
Mr. Chair, these represent the key items for which PWGSC is requesting additional funds.
We would be happy to answer your questions.
