Mr. Chair, I thank you for the question.
Public Works and Government Services’ net appropriation will decline by $218 million or approximately 8%. This decrease is primarily related to the following reductions. The first reduction is the $113.4 million transfer to Shared Services Canada. As you know on August 4, 2011, an order in council created the Shared Services Canada department and transferred the services from Public Works to Shared Services Canada. The creation of Shared Services Canada resulted in the transfer of full-time employees, the associated budgets, and the above services from Public Works to Shared Services Canada.
There's also a $75.2 million reduction from the long-term vision plan. More funds were not called in main estimates because project requirements were not fully known at that time, and thus the decision was made to defer the request for funds from main estimates to supplementary estimates. The deferral will allow us to better align the timing of new funding with the actual expenditures, and it supports sound cash management strategy.
I would also like to point out that all major capital projects, including the major rehabilitation of the West Block and 180 Wellington, are tracking on or ahead of schedule, and on or under budget. We also see a decrease of $41.9 million from Public Works' contribution towards the budget 2011 strategic review exercise announced by the President of the Treasury Board on May 3, 2010. Public Works' contribution to the strategic review also ensured alignment with federal responsibilities.