Thank you, Chair.
Bonjour, tout le monde. Thank you for having me here today. This is my first time joining this committee. It's good to see new and familiar faces.
I’m here to talk about my priorities as the President of the Treasury Board. Let me begin by saying that none of this work happens without Canada’s public service employees. They deliver programs and services that people rely on every single day. Through you, Chair, I would like to thank them for building Canada strong.
To support these efforts, the Treasury Board Secretariat determines the rules and provides direction so that the government is well managed and Canadians are well served.
Let me start with the work we are doing on government spending. As this committee knows, every year, detailed spending plans go through the Treasury Board and then go to Parliament before any money is spent. One of our government’s key priorities is to spend less on government operations and invest more in priorities like housing, defence and infrastructure. That’s why the Minister of Finance and I launched the comprehensive expenditure review earlier this year. More than 100 departments have put forward proposals, and I look forward to sharing the results with you as soon as possible.
One of the many duties the TBS has is setting the rules for how departments are managed and how the government operates. We also lead the government’s digital work to make sure that our IT systems are reliable and deliver results for Canadians.
To help public service employees deliver results, the TBS is using artificial intelligence as a new and important tool for government. That’s why this year the TBS launched Canada’s first AI strategy for the federal public service. Our goal is to use AI responsibly to help people do their jobs better and deliver faster, more efficient services to Canadians.
To improve service delivery, Canada’s new government announced a 60-day red tape review. We identified close to 500 initiatives across federal organizations to remove overly complicated regulations, streamline and reduce costs for businesses. For example, we’re giving Canadians faster access to important medications by streamlining approvals from trusted countries. This change has already reduced wait times for some drug approvals by approximately five months.
We’re modernizing regulations for Canadian farmers. These changes will help Canadian farmers, make the government more efficient, and improve service delivery for Canadians.
In addition, we have launched a review of the Access to Information Act. This is being guided by feedback from stakeholders and parliamentarians like you.
We also continue to implement the Official Languages Act to promote and protect Canada’s official languages. Furthermore, we're updating the language designation of federal offices, which will result in 700 more offices across Canada becoming bilingual.
In closing, Mr. Chair, our goal at the TBS is clear: having a government that is transparent and accountable and that delivers results and quality services for Canadians.
I look forward to your questions.