Evidence of meeting #10 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was employees.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Thank you.
Colleagues, we'll only have time for one more five-minute intervention. I apologize, Mr. Jowhari; once again you've drawn the short straw. Our final five-minute intervention will go to Mr. Aboultaif.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
Minister, we have shortages of PPE. I've been receiving calls from beyond Alberta from professionals who are looking to get PPE so they can go back to work. Are you aware that a few flights came back empty?
11:50 a.m.
President of the Treasury Board
Providing personal protective equipment to our public servants is an absolute priority. If you want more details on that, I can turn to some of the representatives.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
Thank you, Minister. Can your department or you, Minister, provide the manifests for Air Canada and Cargojet for all the flights getting that equipment from the beginning until now?
11:50 a.m.
President of the Treasury Board
I would love to answer your important request positively; however, you would need to turn to PSPC, because they are the ones handling all matters of international procurement.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
Thank you. I would like to make that request, if you don't mind, to get us this information or ask the department to supply it. Would that be possible?
11:50 a.m.
President of the Treasury Board
I think you can make that reasonable request to them, and if you would like my assistance to connect you to their team, I would be glad to do so.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
That would be great.
Minister, do you know if the government purchased PPE directly from suppliers or from other countries?
11:55 a.m.
President of the Treasury Board
Our strategy in the Government of Canada is based on both international procurement in a world in which PPE is solicited by a large number of countries as well as on procurement through a significant increase in domestic production. Domestic production is supported by ISED and international procurement is supported by PSPC.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
Are you suggesting that we have a direct contract with other countries, or is the procurement going through a middleman or the private sector?
11:55 a.m.
President of the Treasury Board
I know you want some clear and accurate answers, so again I would encourage you to connect to PSPC for all the good information you're seeking, and I would be able to support you in that.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
Minister, this question is on PPE for the armed forces. We've been asking the armed forces to assist, especially in Quebec in the Laval area and others. How are we making sure that our armed forces are getting the protection they need to be able to help in this hard time?
11:55 a.m.
President of the Treasury Board
We always needs to be reminded of the importance of protecting our armed forces, especially in light of what they're currently doing in Ontario and Quebec. Again I would be happy to help engage you with Minister Sajjan, who is very mindful of that and could provide details on how he does that.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
In your opening remarks, you mentioned 7.5 million applications to CERB for $14 billion in assistance. Is that on a monthly basis?
11:55 a.m.
President of the Treasury Board
No, this is a cumulative number since March 15.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
If we take the $14 billion and divide it by 7.5, that's less than $2,000. Is that correct?
11:55 a.m.
President of the Treasury Board
In this case you would need to seek guidance from Minister Qualtrough and Minister Lebouthillier. They would explain to you—
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
11:55 a.m.
President of the Treasury Board
Yes, we know the figure, which I mentioned for your knowledge this morning. It is 7.5 million people, for a total of 10.5 or 10.7 applications, which adds up to a number of billions of dollars, the details of which I would be happy to try to solicit from other ministers—
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
I think it's fair to ask that question, because it was in your opening remarks.
How much time do I have, Mr. Chair? Do I have another minute?
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
As my final question, you mentioned unclassified work in your speech. How do you define “unclassified work”?
11:55 a.m.
President of the Treasury Board
At the federal level, we have different levels of classifications. They range from unclassified to very secret levels. Each of these levels is managed through directives that the Treasury Board Secretariat provides, and these directives are implemented by the different departments and agencies.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Thank you very much.
Colleagues, I'm going to excuse the minister and his officials, with our thanks. I know you have an appointment at 12 noon, Minister. We thank you for your appearance here today, and we again thank all of your officials.
Colleagues, we will suspend for just a couple of minutes while we prepare our next slate of witnesses.
We are suspended.
