Evidence of meeting #59 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was supplementary.
A video is available from Parliament.
12:30 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
On that issue, these investments, a lot of it is going towards putting the people in place—
12:30 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
—in these offices to do the work, to take the calls. When you're implementing enterprise-wide IT solutions, it's really important to ensure that you have the people in place. There was an issue, in terms of the approach of the previous government, in terms of trying to—
12:30 p.m.
NDP
12:30 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
We, as a government, are absolutely focused on fixing this. It is totally unacceptable that public servants are not being paid, in many cases, on time or accurately, and we're fixing it as a government. This is something to which we are totally committed and we take that responsibility very seriously.
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Mr. Weir, unfortunately, we're out of time.
Mr. Ayoub, you have the floor, and you have seven minutes.
12:30 p.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It is always a pleasure to see you again, Minister.
It seems that several requests involve the legal aspect. I have a few questions for you, starting with the RCMP.
It seems to be asking for an additional $57 million to settle certain cases out of court. In addition, I would like to verify whether information reported on Radio-Canada is accurate. Radio-Canada spoke of the existence of a $100-million fund to help the victims of discrimination and sexual harassment. Is this the same fund, or are we talking about a different one? Do you have more information to provide to us on the RCMP's request?
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
As announced in early October, the RCMP has settled lawsuits with the plaintiffs in two class action lawsuits filed on behalf of regular members, current and former, civilian members, and public service employees. At that time, $100 million had been earmarked in the fiscal framework for the settlement of these claims. The $57 million in these supplementary estimates is to cover the cash flows expected to be made in this fiscal year.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Thank you.
I would like to talk about Alberta and the fire in Fort McMurray.
There are certain things I find reassuring. We were all shocked to see the impact these fires had on the region. There is a request for $104.5 million. That amount of money seems to be to match the very generous donations made by Canadians to help that part of the country. Will the $104.5 million be given to the affected families? Are there other sums of money from other funds to increase the financial aid for the events that took place in Fort McMurray, Alberta? Could you provide us with some details on this?
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Thank you for your question.
The people of Fort McMurray can count on the continued support of our government. In these supplementary estimates there is an amount of $104 million for the Red Cross. This amount corresponds to the generous donations made by Canadians.
The Red Cross offers an array of aid programs to the people of the region to help them get over their losses, so that they can go back to work or to their studies. Among the examples of aid provided by the Red Cross are food, clothing, housing, medical equipment, baby or children's items, and transportation.
The help we provided to the people of Fort McMurray was very important at that time, and we are going to continue to support them. This is a priority for our government. We were proud of the contributions made by citizens from all over Canada. They contributed a large amount.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Do you have any details on this? I thought I saw people nodding and approving something I said. If I understood correctly, the government provided more than the $104 million which was what Canadians donated.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
What was the additional amount provided by Canada? Do you know what that amount is, so that we can inform the public properly in this regard?
12:35 p.m.
Assistant Secretary, Expenditure Management, Treasury Board Secretariat
We do not have those figures for the moment, Mr. Ayoub. It is too soon to provide an exact amount.
Under the Public Safety Canada Program, that is the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements, the provinces pay the bills first, and the federal government reimburses them for eligible costs.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
There are figures circulating in the media. They have even mentioned billions of dollars. We hear talk of sums of that nature. The $104 million amount is extremely important. It reflects the donations Canadians made, but we are talking about billions of dollars to help Alberta.
12:35 p.m.
Assistant Secretary, Expenditure Management, Treasury Board Secretariat
As I was saying...
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
We will have the results a bit later. That is what I understand from what has been said.
12:35 p.m.
Assistant Secretary, Expenditure Management, Treasury Board Secretariat
That is correct. It is too early to provide exact figures, but we are talking about hundreds of millions.
