Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the committee, good afternoon.
As you know, Mr. Chair, I am always happy to appear before this committee to talk about our ongoing efforts at Public Works and Government Services Canada and Shared Services Canada.
Today I am pleased to address this committee on supplementary estimates (C) and main estimates for Public Works and Government Services Canada and Shared Services Canada.
I would like to introduce the officials who are here with me today. With us are the deputy minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, François Guimont, and the president of Shared Services Canada, Liseanne Forand. Also joining us are the chief financial officer for Public Works, Alex Lakroni, and the assistant deputy minister of acquisitions branch for Public Works, Tom Ring. The director general for the program management sector and real property branch for Public Works, Stephen Twiss, is joining us as well. I thank them for making time to be here with the committee.
As you know, Mr. Chair, Public Works 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 real estate portfolio that accommodates 269,000 federal employees in 1,849 locations across Canada. We contribute more than $14 billion annually to the Canadian economy through government procurement. We prepare the annual public accounts of Canada and manage a cash flow of more $2 trillion a year.
I would like to take the opportunity to highlight our ongoing efforts at Public Works and Government Services Canada. I believe the Government of Canada, through public works, plays a key role in the economy.
Public Works and Government Services is changing the way it does business, not just by trying to reduce the paper burden but also by trying to drive innovation and investment in the Canadian economy.
As an agent of the Crown, we must ensure that when we buy goods and services, we do so in a manner that enhances access, competition and fairness.
We continue to work to create a better and smarter procurement system. On the job creation front, via the highly successful and much praised national shipbuilding procurement strategy, we are poised to create jobs in shipbuilding and related industries.
I am very proud of the innovative work to develop and implement the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy.
There were two key features that made the national shipbuilding strategy different. The first was the decision to use only Canadian shipyards. The second was the way we governed the process to pick the winning shipyards. Public Works created an innovative process to ensure a fair result. The teams evaluating the bids worked independently of one another, and a robust dispute avoidance and resolution process was worked out ahead of time.
The shipyards were selected following a fair, open and transparent process, free of political influence, with independent oversight provided by a fairness monitor and with the assistance of independent third-party subject matter experts.
When people look back at the entire national shipbuilding process, I believe they will discover how it embodies all three principles that are changing the way we do business at Public Works.
First, we engaged industry stakeholders. We held five full-day meetings with the short-listed shipyards. During these meetings we consulted on the content of the request for proposals, the terms of the umbrella agreements, the proposed schedule, and the evaluation methodology used to rank the bids the yards made.
Second, of course, we leveraged the buy by keeping the jobs here in Canada. The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries has estimated that government ship projects will directly and indirectly contribute over $2 billion in annual economic benefits and 15,000 jobs over the next 30 years. In addition, we required that the winning yards develop value propositions that will contribute to continuous improvement in areas such as skills and training, infrastructure, capabilities, and long-term supply chain development.
Third, the national shipbuilding strategy launched a new framework for governing major procurements. We established a secretariat that developed a non-political approach to procurement. Bids were scored on their merits using a system of evaluation that was shaped by the shipyards themselves. The shipyards were assessed by an internationally recognized third-party expert, and the entire process was overseen by a fairness monitor.
Our Canadian innovation and commercialization program, known as CICP or the kick-start program, is helping businesses bridge the gap between the lab and the marketplace, with 27 pre-commercial innovations pre-qualifying in its first round, and 36 in the second. As you well know, pre-commercial means these goods are tested—they are legitimate companies making innovative products that work—but they are not in mass production.
You all know what it means to a small business owner when they can say that the first order for their product was placed by the Government of Canada. It is a huge boost.
We are also committed to supporting small and medium-sized businesses via our Office of Small and Medium Enterprises, which has assisted over 140,000 individuals and suppliers, as well as 230,000 visitors to its buyandsell.gc.ca website.
On modernizing the federal workplace, our department is working to develop the workplace 2.0 standard to enable public servants to be more innovative and efficient in serving Canadians. On pay modernization, we are moving forward with the establishment of the Pay Centre of Expertise in Miramichi. It will ensure long-term sustainability of the Government of Canada's pay administration system and services, and a more effective and efficient public service. Finally, I'm pleased to note that our department was recently designated as one of the national capital region's top 100 employers. We are responsible for 55,000 procurement-related transactions worth almost $17 billion a year.
When we turn to the main estimates, Public Works and Government Services main estimates for fiscal year 2012-2013 for next year's budget is $2.5 billion. This is down to $5.6 billion, a decrease of $218 million or 8% from last year.
Our supplementary estimates (C) request net final tally is $48 million, made up of $105.5 million in new funding, and reductions of $57.7 million. One notable item in the supplementary estimates (C) is for the real property branch for management of crown-owned office buildings.
The Real Property Branch manages one of the largest and most diverse real estate portfolios in Canada, including many of the country's most important landmarks, from bridges and dams to federal buildings.
We're moving forward on some exciting and key strategic initiatives, such as workplace 2.0, infrastructure assets, and leadership in energy and environmental design, also known as LEED.
Another item is for funds to undertake significant rehabilitation and maintenance projects across Canada, such as dams, bridges, and crossings. The Esquimalt Graving Dock and the Alaska Highway are two examples included in the program of work delivered by Public Works and Government Services.
Through our investments in public infrastructure we are not only creating jobs across the country, but also ensuring safe access to these structures for the public.
I am now pleased to speak about Shared Services Canada. For the current year, 2011–2012, there is no requirement for Supplementary Estimates (C) for Shared Services Canada, as the new organization was supported by PWGSC and other federal departments.
Turning to Shared Services Canada, for the upcoming year, 2012-13, we're looking at transferring $1.4 billion from 43 partner departments to operate Shared Services Canada during its first fiscal year to deliver services to those federal organizations.
This concludes my opening statement. My officials and I would be pleased to answer any of your questions.
Thank you very much.
