Government Operations Committee on Nov. 20th, 2014

[The Chair, NDP, Pierre-Luc Dusseault]

Thank you for your comments.

Actually, one of the solutions could be to call another meeting to discuss any matters we do not finish. However, it will be difficult to ask Mr. Matthews to remain here because he has another important commitment. But I understand the committee members’ views.

It is almost 10:15 a.m. Are there any other questions? We could sit for two more rounds if that would satisfy committee members. So Mr. Matthews will stay with us until 10:30 a.m.

Mrs. Day, the floor is yours.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am happy that we have the extension because I have a lot of questions to ask. We have so few opportunities to see you and to hear explanations about a budget that fills 400 pages; we have barely two hours.

Mr. Matthews, my next question is about airline safety. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority is asking for $84.6 million in vote 1b for enhanced non-passenger screening. I am wondering about the idea of non-passengers. Is this support staff, like cabin crews, baggage handlers, or people who deal with the animals being shipped? Could you shed some light on that for us?

[Bill Matthews]

Thank you for the question.

This really deals with people working for the airports and the airlines.

It's for airline staff, baggage handlers, and security staff themselves, anyone who works related to the airport. That's non-passenger screening. That's not animals. It's the actual staff themselves of the airlines and the related support services. This is directly related to beefing up the screening in those areas.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

They are people who provide services, I gather.

[Bill Matthews]

Yes.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

If I understand correctly, these services did not exist beforehand but are now being added. Is that correct?

[Bill Matthews]

No, they existed before, but there's an improvement here, or an increase, in terms of the number of people performing the screening, whether it's related to making sure they are cleared in a more expedient manner so they can get to their jobs or because there's a desire to improve the quality of the screening. I believe it's both. That's what you're seeing here.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Can you tell me whether this addition brings Canada into line with the new International Civil Aviation Organization standards?

[Bill Matthews]

I'm not aware of any issues with the standards of the ICAO, but that's certainly not an area I'm an expert in.

[Marcia Santiago]

There are...[Technical Difficulty—Editor]...at this point. In fact, the funding in the supplementary estimates is in response to the increased standards that came into effect in July of last year.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Matthews, if I understand this correctly, the additional amounts are not going towards increasing the security staff that checks passengers, but solely for enhanced non-passenger screening, as you said earlier.

Are new people going to be hired?

[Bill Matthews]

I'm going to ask if my colleague happens to know the answer to that question.

Marcia, you don't know or we're not certain...?

[Marcia Santiago]

I'm not certain.

[Bill Matthews]

We're not certain if there's new staff. We can follow up on that if it's of interest.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Would it be possible to find out the breakdown of that $84 million?

[Bill Matthews]

I'm not sure I have any additional information for you in terms of the allocation itself. I believe it's all operating dollars. I'm going from memory here.

Is it all operating...?

[Marcia Santiago]

Yes, but it's a crown, so....

[Bill Matthews]

My understanding is that it's operating, but it would be tough for me to get the additional details because it's a crown organization.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

In the various votes, there are requests for $178 million for Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard's fleet renewal. Are the amounts requested for the Canadian Coast Guard fleet to be used for new projects or existing projects. Is this to pay additional unforeseen costs?

[Bill Matthews]

It really is for both. Work on detailed plans for the boats has already been started.

This is for the department itself, for ongoing engineering and design studies. This is for the ships that will be built on the west coast. We talked about ships on the east coast earlier. This is the west coast ships. That's money for the department itself.

There is money in here as well for the upgrade of the shipyard in Vancouver. One of the members spoke about the Irving shipyard on the east coast and that the upgrades have been made. This is similar work on the west coast, but it's ongoing.

The third piece here is a life extension of an existing vessel, the Louis S. St-Laurent, which is the heavy-duty icebreaker that the coast guard operates. It is going to be extended to 2021 while we wait for other ships to be built. There's some work required to make sure that the Louis S. St-Laurent can actually do the required work, and it needs some upgrades, so those dollars are here as well.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Could you tell us about the Atlantic and Pacific Integrated Commercial Fisheries Initiatives?

[Bill Matthews]

What page is that?

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

We do not have the page numbers, unfortunately. It is still under the heading Fisheries and Oceans Canada. It is vote 10b, in the amount of $32.2 million.

[Marcia Santiago]

The Pacific and Atlantic integrated commercial fisheries is a program that's intended to help integrate first nations and aboriginal fishing enterprises into existing commercial fisheries. It also supports increased accountabilities through increased management and enforcement. These initiatives began in the 2007 budget and have been sequentially renewed. This particular funding is to support first nations fisheries, as I mentioned, providing training and continuing to provide for voluntary relinquishment of non-aboriginal commercial fisheries access. It's also to improve catch monitoring reporting and enforcement focused in B.C., but may also be implemented across the country, and finally, to invest in bilateral and multilateral collaborative management processes to improve fisheries management and to address sustainability and conservation.

[The Chair, NDP, Pierre-Luc Dusseault]

Thank you for your answers.

The floor now goes to Mr. O’Connor, for five minutes.