Government Operations Committee on March 10th, 2016

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

That's CIRA. That's not us.

[Patrice Rondeau]

Yes, it's NFS. For a specific domain names count, I would have to check with our security person. Our network experts would probably be able to give you that count.

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

Okay. I look forward to doing this again sometime. It's very interesting.

[Patrice Rondeau]

Would you like us to go back?

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

Well, I believe my time is up.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Perhaps if you could get that information to the committee at a later date, that would be appreciated.

Now, speaking of someone who's still trying to figure out how a fax machine works, I'll turn the conversation over to Mr. Blaney for seven minutes.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's not to call me a dinosaur, but I appreciate that.

My question will be on the mandate letter, on the replacement of the CF-18s, and also on the parliamentary precinct rehabilitation program.

I would like to have asked the minister some questions about the CF-18s. We are aware of the exceptional contribution that the fighters made to the mission against the so-called Islamic State. But we know that the CF-18s are reaching the end of their life. The minister's mandate letter calls for a process to replace the CF-18s. This afternoon, we heard that we will have an update about the shipbuilding strategy in November.

Can you give us an overview of this situation and tell us what are the next steps in replacing the CF-18s, a process that is already underway, and when those steps will be taken? Can you give me any information about that this afternoon?

[George Da Pont]

Thank you for the question. As you've noted, the government has made a commitment to replace the CF-18, and to make sure, obviously, that the air force has the plane it needs to do its job.

The department is working with the Department of National Defence to design, as the government committed to, an open and transparent competition process to replace the CF-18 fighter jets. That work is under way. I think an update will come at a point when the government has made a choice on how to proceed.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Okay. We're certainly looking forward to that.

If I bring you into the domain of the parliamentary rehabilitation program. I was pleased to see that the projects have been accomplished on time and on delivery. I understand that eventually we will have to leave Centre Block and move to East Block. Can you tell us when this will happen?

[George Da Pont]

The intent is to vacate the Centre Block in 2018 and to move people into alternate locations while, obviously, the rehabilitation work is done in the Centre Block.

I'll turn to Rob Wright, who is the assistant deputy minister in charge of our parliamentary precinct. I'm sure he can provide you a little more detail, if you'd like, on where people are being moved.

[Rob Wright, Assistant Deputy Minister, Parliamentary Precinct Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services]

Absolutely. Thank you very much for the question.

The projects, as you noted, are all proceeding on time and on schedule. By 2018 a suite of five major projects will be completed, which will enable the Centre Block to be completely emptied, and for its restoration to begin.

Last year we completed the Sir John A. MacDonald facility, which provided new conference facilities for the Parliament of Canada. Within the next couple of months we will complete the Wellington Building at the corner of Wellington and Bank, which will allow MPs to be accommodated, and which is a critical part of being able to empty the Centre Block. As well, at the very end of 2017, we will complete the West Block and phase 1 of the visitor welcome centre. That will enable the chamber to be relocated from the Centre Block into the West Block, and all the legislative functions will take place in the West Block.

On the Senate side, we are rehabilitating the government conference centre, directly across from the Château Laurier. The Senate chamber and legislative functions will be relocated to the Government Conference Centre. The combination of these projects will enable the Centre Block to be completely emptied and its restoration to begin.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Following what took place and the fact that all the security services were grouped, has it had any impact on the design of the project?

Also, can you mention the visitors' centre and its impact on the parliamentary precinct and access to it, because this is certainly an issue that has generated some concern given what's been experienced.

[Rob Wright]

Absolutely.

We work very closely with the new Parliamentary Protective Service, which was put in place last summer. I would note that prior to its creation, we worked very closely with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as well as the security services of the Senate and the House of Commons.

In many respects, for us there has been little change. We've continued to work with the security forces as we had before. The design and construction of all these projects have adhered to the requirements that have been laid out by the RCMP as well as the Senate and House security forces and now we're working with the Parliamentary Protective Service.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

So the visitor centre will be located on Wellington Street and prior to accessing the precinct, you would undergo some security check?

[Rob Wright]

The visitor welcome centre, phase 1, will be located in-between the West Block and the Centre Block. You may note a large excavation in that area right now. That excavation is specifically for phase 1 of the visitor welcome centre. You will enter essentially from the east into the visitor welcome centre, phase 1, which will provide security screening before entering the West Block, as well as visitor greeting services.

When the Centre Block undergoes rehabilitation, the visitor welcome centre will be expanded to connect underground with the Centre Block and the West Block. So the visitor welcome centre will be largely underground and will provide a secure screening before entering into the main Parliament Buildings.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, it would certainly be interesting to have a maybe more in-depth presentation of this important project and also the budgetary envelope.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Thank you very much for that answer, Mr. Wright. I know all parliamentarians are going to be very interested in the progress being made as we change Hill locations, particularly of the House of Commons.

We're now have seven minutes for Mr. Weir.

[Erin Weir, NDP, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I think we have an all-party consensus at this committee about the need for greater clarity on the government's shipbuilding strategy.

I'd like to take up my colleague's line of questioning about aircraft procurement.

It was said that the government has committed to finding a replacement for the CF-18. I would note that the governing party also very clearly committed during the election campaign not to purchase the F-35. Yet it was recently revealed that the Government of Canada paid $45 million to remain part of the F-35 consortium and keep open the option of purchasing that aircraft.

I wonder if, from a public service perspective, you could confirm whether or not the F-35 is actively being considered in this procurement competition.

[George Da Pont]

No, all I can confirm, as I said earlier, is that we are working with the Department of National Defence to develop an open competitive process, and when the government makes a decision it will obviously announce it.

In terms of one point you raised, participation in the joint strike fighter program, I think the important point to note is participation in the program does not commit anyone to purchasing the F-35.

[Erin Weir, NDP, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

I certainly take the point that it's not a commitment, although it does seem strange that a government would spend that much money if it didn't have much interest in buying the aircraft.

To ask the question a different way, it doesn't sound as though the F-35 has been excluded from the process at this point.

[George Da Pont]

No, I think the main consideration is that by participating in the program, it provides the mechanism whereby Canadian companies can compete for contracts and become part of the supply chain for the F-35 process, which quite a number have already done.

I think significantly more money has been provided to Canadian companies under those contracts than the government has paid to be part of the program. However, if you are not paid up as part of the program, the companies in your jurisdiction can't compete. The important point is that it's a benefit and an opportunity for Canadian companies, but there's absolutely no commitment, no requirement, to purchase the F-35.

[Erin Weir, NDP, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Understood.

To shift gears a little bit, in the estimates we also have Shared Services Canada seeking some funding for increased biometric screening at the Canadian border. I wonder what the rationale for that screening would be. Is it something we feel that we have to do as part of bilateral agreements with the United States, or is there another reason?

[Ron Parker]

Mr. Chair, thank you for the question.

Our participation in this initiative, which is mainly the immigration department's responsibility, is to support the IT infrastructure side of this initiative.

In terms of the broader initiative, Graham, do you want to say something about the purpose?

[Graham Barr, Director General, Strategic Policy, Planning and Reporting, Shared Services Canada]

Sure. As Mr. Parker said, it's the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship that's leading the initiative. More broadly, it's to expand the use of biometric screening to all travellers requiring visas who are seeking entry into Canada. Our responsibility is to provide the IT hardware, the servers and the storage, etc., and the software to support that activity.