Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the committee.
I am pleased to appear before this committee on behalf of Public Works and Government Services to discuss the 2013-2014 supplementary estimates (B) and the 2012-2013 departmental performance report.
Since you have named the people joining me today, I will not do it a second time. Thank you for allowing us to finish before 5:00 p.m. We will be attending a late afternoon celebration for the Workplace Charitable Campaign. It will be an opportunity to celebrate the end of the campaign's government component. The employees of Public Works and Government Services have raised more than $1 million for the national capital region, and we want to celebrate that contribution.
For those committee members who may be unfamiliar with the department, we play a key role in the operations of the Government of Canada, serving, as we like to say, as its treasurer, accountant, real property manager, central purchasing agent and linguistic authority.
It is home to the Receiver General, which manages a cash flow of more than $2.2 trillion a year and prepares the annual public accounts of Canada. For the 15th consecutive year, we received an unmodified opinion in the Auditor General's audit of the public accounts, an unprecedented event for a government organization of our size.
We also accommodate more than 272,000 federal employees in a diverse real estate portfolio involving over 2,000 leases and $1 billion in annual rental payments. We are responsible for more than 60,000 contracts, or 83% of the $21 billion a year the Government of Canada spends on acquisitions.
We also translate more than one million pages of text a year on behalf of federal organizations and provide translation and interpretation services for Parliament. That includes the people in those cabins right now.
The department has one strategic outcome, which is to deliver high-quality, central programs and services that ensure sound stewardship on behalf of Canadians and meet the needs of federal institutions.
In everything we do, we put a great importance on integrity. In July 2012, the department introduced new integrity measures that render potential bidders ineligible if they have been convicted of certain offences. Since then, Public Works has verified around 43,000 contracts and real property transactions, involving checks on almost 145,000 individuals, companies, and their board members.
Through the 2013–14 main estimates, the department asked for $2.6 billion to deliver core services related to accommodation, renovations, construction, procurement, translation, and industrial security screening.
We did not seek any appropriations through the earlier supplementary estimates (A). In this timeframe we are seeking $176.6 million in these supplementary estimates (B).
This request includes $69.7 million for real property functions, to cover non-discretionary costs in fit-up, payments in lieu of taxes, and municipal taxes associated with crown-owned buildings and leased space. Now, $38.4 million of this is for the fit-up for three new federal government buildings in Gatineau, which will consolidate a number of departments and reduce our need to lease space. Another $25 million is for office accommodation for departments and agencies delivering programs related to, for example, agriculture and border security. These office accommodation requirements flow directly from the funding requests made by departments and agencies for new or renewed programs.
The next amount is $37.4 million for the pay modernization project, to continue the planned work on system design and configuration, and for the implementation of the new service model.
We are also requesting $31.5 million to improve federal engineering assets such as dams, bridges, and crossings, including, for example, the Chaudière Crossing and the Timiskaming Dam Complex.
As well, $13.7 million is for the reinvestment of revenues from the sale or transfer of surplus properties that were sold at market value between December 1, 2012, and July 8, 2013. The funds generated from these sales are to be reinvested in federal office facilities and common-use assets to preserve or extend their useful life.
And $3.4 million is requested for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Manège militaire de la Grande Allée in Quebec City that was damaged by fire in 2008.
With these supplementary estimates (B), PWGSC's total gross budget would become $6.2 billion, broken down as follows: $2.5 billion for the rent, fit-up and utilities of government-wide accommodation, Receiver General and central compensation administration functions, and translation services to Parliament; $1.9 billion related to the provision of optional services to departments, such as real property project management and translation services, on a cost-recovery basis; $945 million to deliver core programs such as central purchasing and banking, public accounts, payroll and pension services; and $708 million for Government of Canada buildings and infrastructure. That is capital funding.
As PWGSC generates $3.3 billion in revenues, or 53% of its budget, from client departments, this results in a net appropriation of $2.9 billion.
Allow me now to tum to PWGSC's Departmental Performance Report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013.
Consistent with the government's priorities, Public Works and Government Services Canada has put considerable energy into innovation, cost saving, and making it easier for government clients and Canadians to do business with us.
The department's top organizational priorities for 2012-13 were and continue to be delivering efficient and effective services, transforming critical infrastructure, and ensuring sound stewardship and management excellence.
To deliver on our first priority, the department has adopted a smart procurement approach that leverages digital technology to reduce costs and process for clients and potential bidders. More importantly, this approach has led to enhanced engagement with suppliers. We engage with industry earlier and more often throughout our procurement processes. We make greater use of independent third-party advice and fairness monitors in complex procurements. And we apply robust governance to ensure continuous oversight. It is this approach that the Auditor General recognized in his chapter on shipbuilding in his report that was released earlier this week.
Our office of small and medium enterprises, OSME, helps demystify the government procurement process for businesses and manages our successful Build in Canada innovation program, which links federal clients with private sector innovators.
We also successfully modernized the government's pension administration systems and business processes. The new system, serving about 600,000 users, is the biggest in Canada. It was launched successfully in January 2013. Last night, the Information Technology Association of Canada, ITAC, awarded the project its first prize for large public sector IT projects and actually created a special prize to recognize this particular project for its delivery on scope, on time, and on budget.
In pursuit of our second priority, transforming critical infrastructure, the department made significant progress on its state-of-the-art real property information technology system.
And, as you heard from departmental officials who appeared before you last week, work on the Parliamentary Precinct is unfolding as set out in the long-term vision and plan.
In our effort to ensure sound stewardship and management excellence, our third priority, the department met its savings goals in 2012-2013 and strengthened its financial management through measures such as budget management excellence and renewed financial and materiel management system.
In addition, the transition to direct deposit at the Receiver General for Canada is on track and will save an estimated $17.4 million a year when it is completed in 2016.
As you can see, PWGSC is entrusted with a broad mandate and manages significant sums of money.
In providing other departments with a wide range of common services, we enable them to focus on their own mandates and priorities. As befits our stewardship responsibility, we seek whole-of-government solutions that are efficient and cost-effective while striving to deliver high-quality services to Canadians.
Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for your attention.
My colleagues and I would be happy to take your questions.
Thank you.