Government Operations Committee on May 12th, 2021

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I was hoping that you, as the minister, might be able to provide direction. I believe it's your department.

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

Would you like an answer?

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I'm waiting.

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

Okay.

Tolga.

[Tolga Yalkin]

Yes, thank you, Minister. So—

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

So, the minister doesn't know.

[Tolga Yalkin]

Mr. Chair, the number that appears as the benchmark in the departmental plan is indeed that: a benchmark. It's a floor. It's not necessarily a ceiling, and it actually is prescribed by—

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

This is just it, though. Why would the floor be less than where you are right now?

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

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

Can we keep a conversation going? It's extremely difficult for the interpreters.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

That's exactly what this is. It's a conversation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you.

With that said, if Mr. Yalkin has an answer, if he could provide that to the committee in writing, that would be greatly appreciated as we've come to the end of our time.

We'll now go to Mr. Jowhari for five minutes.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Indeed, it's good to have you back, and it's good to see you in full health. Thank you for the work that you're doing.

Minister, in the 2021 budget, the TBS received about $227.9 million to implement a low-carbon fuel program. Can you explain the significance of this investment, as well as other additional investments in budget 2021 for greening government that you've reviewed? Can you explain the impact of those as well?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

Thank you, Majid, and thank you for your kind words as well—in fact, for everyone's kind words. I didn't expect that you would have noted my absence earlier, but you did, and it's very nice of you to welcome me back.

I'm going to be very pleased to answer that question, Majid, because this is obviously a demonstration of how the economy and the environment go together, hand in hand. I would say that one way to do that is to demonstrate leadership on the part of the Government of Canada. We're going to do this in several ways.

One way that was announced in budget 2021 is through this $228 million to implement the low-carbon fuel program that is going to be necessary as we move toward our 2050 net-zero emissions goal. It's going to also be important because it's going to make it possible to achieve low-carbon fuel use in federal domestic air and marine fleets.

As we do this, we are also going to provide opportunities for businesses across Canada to partner in green supply procurement initiatives. That's going to be excellent news for everyone in Canada because both technologies and economic development opportunities will be there to support that combination of the economy and the environment. One objective that we're going to set is the procurement of exclusively clean electricity by 2025 for federal use.

Again, Majid, thank you very much, and I look forward to working with you and your constituents in making that happen.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

Also, in the TBS departmental plan, the TBS has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 40% below the 2005 levels. In your opinion, with all the measures that are put in—and you oversee the expenditure—is Canada well on track to achieve this goal? Can you give us some concrete example of how the government will actually accomplish these ambitious targets?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

The answer is yes, the government is on track to reach its emission reduction goals. By the way, we are all mindful that we are at the start of a green revolution, both a green environmental revolution and a green economic revolution. We are going to reach that. By now, we have already—when I say “we”, it's the federal government—reduced our emissions by 35% since 2005. We are confident in reaching a 40% reduction by 2025 and to being net-zero carbon emitters by 2050. We're going to do this by how we own and lease real property, and how we manage and purchase fleets for business and public servant travel. We're going to also work on national safety and security operations to make those operations more green. Finally, as I said earlier, we're going to leverage green procurement chains.

Just two weeks ago, I spoke to the president of the Council on Environmental Quality at the White House in Washington, D.C. As you know, we have great opportunities to work with the new American administration in integrating our green supply chains, not only making our environment greener and cleaner more quickly but also partnering with businesses across the two sides of the frontier to make that beneficial for businesses, looking forward.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Minister, for highlighting the initiative, what we are doing as a government and what you are doing as minister overseeing the TBS. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you, Mr. Jowhari.

Thank you, Minister. I appreciate you for coming back. Thank you for being with us.

As many of my colleagues have already done, I want to express on behalf of the committee our great pleasure to have you back here and to see you again. I'm glad to see that you're well. We wish you the best. Along those lines, once again, thank you for attending the meeting today.

With that, we will go to questioning the officials for the second hour.

The department is going to add one new member. I see Mr. Greenough is now on. I appreciate that.

We will now continue with questioning.

We'll go to Mr. Paul-Hus for six minutes.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Ermuth, I'd like to come back to the issue of advance payments. I spoke to the minister about it, but his answer wasn't clear.

The Guide to Advance Payments states the following, “When the government pays in advance, it takes on greater risk and has fewer recourse options if the agreement is not respected.”

Have you warned departments about the risks associated with advance payments during the pandemic?

[Roger Ermuth, Assistant Comptroller General, Financial Management Sector, Office of the Comptroller General, Treasury Board Secretariat]

Our approach throughout the pandemic has been to work with departments, with their CFOs and also with deputy heads of communications, acknowledging that with the challenges of the pandemic, money would be going out and we would, at times, have to be more flexible. As a result, we have been having conversations with them about making sure the appropriate set of internal controls are there so that post-audit verification, etc., can be done in these programs.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Chair, there wasn't any interpretation.

Could you give me one extra minute? I missed part of the response.

Could Mr. Ermuth repeat his answer?

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

I'm not getting any French translation, either.

Can we check for the translation, Mr. Clerk?

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Thank you.

Could the witness repeat his answer from the beginning? His remarks weren't interpreted.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

I'm still not getting any translation on my end.

[An hon. member]

Nor am I.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

I have paused your time, Mr. Paul-Hus.