Government Operations Committee on March 8th, 2016

[Christine Donoghue]

Thank you.

In the context of more specifics, we have been on-boarding veterans in the past, but not with the highest level of priority as we have done with the new legislation. We have had a lot of interest, so the activities are picking up and there is more knowledge that is being transferred across departments.

If I look at the activities we've had up to February 10, basically we have referred more than 876 veterans across 49 departments. As I said, many of them decide not to pursue the referral that is being made, for all kinds of reasons. Basically, out of those referrals we've had 11 appointments made to DND, one to ESDC, and one to Health Canada.

When it comes to referrals in the context of medical releases that are not attributable to service, 4,000 veterans have been referred to 60 departments, so there is a lot of activity that is picking up.

The question is whether veterans are seeing that there are opportunities that they want to embrace. It's not just a question of whether we want to hire; it's whether veterans are interested in the jobs that are being posted at this point. What's happening is that there's a lot more knowledge and awareness. We've been able to provide a lot more information on some of the successes we've had, on the skill sets we have from veterans and CAF members. I think that is going to grow.

It's important to keep in mind that some of these veterans have jobs, but they also have this entitlement with government for a five-year period. They may not necessarily look to do a move at this point in time in the context of the system. As they're making their way into the system....

It is a fairly complex system, when you don't really understand it. We as public servants have been part of it for a long time. That's why we're spending a lot of time providing information to veterans and teaching them how to make their way into the system. It is very different when going from CAF language to bureaucratic language. We're really trying to do some of the matching at this point, but we're confident that it will increase.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Thank you very much.

For our final seven-minute slot, we'll go to Monsieur Drouin.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for being here tonight—or almost tonight.

I have a quick question. I want to build on what my colleague Mr. Weir said with regard to the Senate appointments. For the Public Service Commission, is it normal practice to publish the names of all applicants who apply for a job? You don't make that public, do you?

[Christine Donoghue]

No. It is not public information.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Okay.

Maybe this is a question for PCO regarding the public appointments process. Do you publish the names of all the applicants who apply for a public appointment?

[Michelle Doucet]

No. We wouldn't do that for privacy considerations.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Yes, there are privacy concerns.

[Michelle Doucet]

Yes.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Is it safe to assume that for those who apply for Senate positions who don't make it, their names, obviously for privacy reasons, may not be published?

[Michelle Doucet]

We will apply the privacy rules of the Government of Canada. It's my understanding that their names would not be published, unless they gave—

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

—consent.

[Michelle Doucet]

—yes, unless they gave consent.

I'm not sure I can imagine a situation in which that would happen, but it might.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Okay. Thank you.

With the benefit of being last, everybody has asked the questions, but with regard to the $1.6 million for the Prime Minister's digital presence, you mentioned an important term. You said that at the time, the previous prime minister wanted access to “live streaming” and that you didn't have live-streaming capabilities.

Is there somebody at PCO who is watching for up-and-coming technologies? I'm thinking that kids today are not on Facebook anymore.

[Michelle Doucet]

That's a really good question.

The number one watcher for new technologies and their impact on Canadians is Michael Wernick, who is the Clerk of the Privy Council.

Christine is laughing, because she gets it from him, too, I'm sure. He is probably one of the most tech-savvy leaders I have ever encountered. My colleagues at Shared Services Canada would likely support that. He is constantly pushing the boundaries and the limits of the envelope on what we can do. He is ambitious in terms of timelines because he understands the importance of staying relevant to Canadians in real time.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you.

As you know, there has been a bit of reorganization at PCO. There's a new deputy secretary to cabinet for results delivery. Was that taken from internal resources to do this new position or this new branch?

[Michelle Doucet]

Yes, currently we have reallocated within the Privy Council Office to support this new function.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

I just didn't see it in the supplementary estimates.

With regard to the continued implementation of Canada's migrant smuggling prevention strategy, I see that in budget 2015, $44.5 million over three years was budgeted. Is that just for PCO, or does it include other departments?

[Michelle Doucet]

Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair.

I can assure you it's not just for PCO. What I can do, if you like, is give you a breakdown of it.

Karen, jump in, if I miss a portion of it.

For instance, for the year 2014-15, $14.9 million was spent, $5 million of it at what is now the department of Global Affairs; another $5 million by the RCMP; $3 million at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; and $700,000 by CSEC. PCO's portion of this piece is the smallest piece. By far the bulk of the overall amount is spent in the large line departments that actually have the front-line responsibility for contributing to the happy event of no migrant ship showing up with migrants on them in Canada.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Okay, thank you.

Concerning the $0.8 million for the beyond the border action plan, as you know, it's been reported in the papers recently that the shared police project hit a bit of a bump. I'm wondering whether PCO factors in those risks, because if there are two partners involved, obviously there are some issues with the police force concerning where the jurisdiction is in which they would be charged, if there were an issue.

Do you factor all those risks in when you make an ask for budget?

[Michelle Doucet]

That's a really good question, and the short answer is yes.

You've talked about one initiative, and I'll give you another related initiative in terms of law enforcement agencies working together. That's the Regulatory Cooperation Council, which does not appear in these estimates, but has in previous estimates.

One thing they did as part of their work was a pilot project for enforcement on the Great Lakes between Canadian and American officials who patrol well-being and safety on the Great Lakes. The way they learned how to work together was to actually go out on 10 different missions to work through the kinks. That takes time and patience. We try to factor that into any spends that departments ask for, and certainly the spends that PCO asks for.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

I think we'll call it quits there.

Thank you to all of our witnesses for appearing today. I'm sure I speak on behalf of all of the committee members in saying that all of the information you provided has been very helpful. We look forward in the months and perhaps years to come to speaking with you again.

You're now excused.

Committee, there is one thing for your consideration, and it deals with what happens when we come back from our break week. March 22, as everyone knows, is budget day. That's also a day we normally sit, so I think we would be precluded from sitting on that day. It is also a short week, because the Friday is Good Friday.

You do not have to give an answer today, but I would ask you to think about—and we'll deal with it before we end this week—whether we sit on the Thursday. Because of the short week. I'm sure many members will be making travel plans to get out of Ottawa a little earlier—

Pardon me?

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Are we under a Friday sitting schedule or not?

[Yasmin Ratansi, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

No, it's Good Friday.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

But is the Thursday a Friday sitting schedule?