Government Operations Committee on Oct. 30th, 2025

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Right now, parliamentarians and Canadians actually can't tell if the government is staying on budget. A side-by-side table, for instance, in “The Fiscal Monitor” would make it easy for us to see when spending is off track.

Will “The Fiscal Monitor” actually include a side-by-side versus the original budget for revenue spending and balance, yes or no?

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON]

I'd just like to remind my colleagues that we have rules and regulations. Legislation says that December 31 is the deadline to table public accounts. We will have them well in advance of the legislated deadline for the public accounts.

I'd like to—

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

I'm sorry. I'm really short on my time, and I still have a number of questions.

Minister, this is especially on transparency and accountability. The difference between what was promised in the budget and what actually happened was far too big last year. Would you agree?

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON]

Again, I think the new timeline for presenting the budget will streamline and give more clarity—

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Do you agree, yes or no?

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON]

We would have the main estimates ahead of time and the budget—

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Do you agree, yes or no? That's my question.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON]

It's based on facts, what we have there. It's not about my opinion. What we have—

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Thank you very much. That is our time.

Ms. Khalid, go ahead, please.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you to the ministers for being here today.

I'll start with Minister Ali.

We've been in a lot of turmoil in our economy in Canada. One of the policies in September that our Prime Minister announced was the suite of proposed buy Canadian measures.

I'm wondering what that looks like in terms of the Treasury Board. Is that something you would be responsible for putting together, regulating and mandating? If it's not your organization, then which organization would it be?

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON]

This new government was elected on the mandate to spend less, invest more, build the strongest economy in the G7 and balance our operational budget in three years. That's exactly what we're doing. On top of that, we're making historic investments in the priorities that Canadians have: infrastructure, housing and the Canadian Armed Forces.

As President of the Treasury Board, I have launched a red-tape review. We've received 500 initiatives from organizations, which means removing barriers, removing overly complicated regulations and streamlining the process to make it easier for businesses to grow and cut their costs.

Further, I'd like to ask my deputy, Bill, to comment on that, please.

[Bill Matthews]

Certainly, Minister. I have one quick point, and then I'll kick it to our colleagues to the left.

The link between buy Canada and the Treasury Board is that we have Treasury Board policies that apply to all departments, including on policy and procurement, and we bring forward any regulations. If there are regulatory changes, they would come through the TBS.

The real leaders of the show are to my left, so can I turn it over to my colleagues?

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Thank you.

Minister Lightbound, please help us out.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

First of all, I love this question because I think it's going to be a flagship policy of our government and certainly of my department. It's the “buy Canadian” policy, the main points of which were announced in September by the Prime Minister.

Now, it's true that we're working with Treasury Board on its operationalization. However, clearly the main thrusts are: prioritizing Canadian companies, having Canadian content requirements, making sure we have reciprocal procurements with other reliable trading partners and prioritizing Canadian materials in major procurement or major work in strategic sectors that have been hit with tariffs. I'm thinking of steel, softwood lumber and aluminum. That's what it's going to look like. There's a consultation going on right now on our “buy Canadian” policy. It won't be for a very long time, because we have to move pretty quickly on this issue.

I'd like to take this opportunity to tell all those who are interested in this issue to submit suggestions about the “buy Canadian” policy.

I forgot to mention another fundamental part of the policy, which is to help small and medium-sized businesses submit bids to the Government of Canada and obtain contracts from the Government of Canada. It's often said, and I've heard it from all sides, that it's complicated doing business with the Government of Canada. That has to be simplified. We need to help SMEs.

I think the deputy minister would agree that it's always better for a company to get a contract than to get a grant. It's the best business card to export. We must do so responsibly, while honouring our international trade law obligations. However, we also need to be a little more pragmatic and realistic in our buy Canadian policy.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Thank you very much for that.

Minister Lightbound, how do we reconcile that when we are trying to create more efficiencies within departments?

Also, on the buy Canada policy, where do you think we will land? I know you are going through consultations, which is an excellent process, but I wonder about this with the cost of goods and services in Canada.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

If I understand your question correctly, you're asking me what the benefit of buying Canadian would be. It should be noted that, in the procurements overseen by the Department of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement, 91% of our suppliers are Canadian. I think that one of the aspects of our new “buy Canadian” policy will be to ensure that value is created and generated in Canada by imposing a Canadian content requirement.

Now, when it comes to the benefits, sometimes it's like the chicken-and-egg paradox. If we promote and carry out capacity-building here in Canada, costs will decrease. There are economies of scale. I'm thinking, for example, and this will speak to the president of Shared Services Canada, and perhaps to someone else…. I hear ringing, maybe he's calling us right now—

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

That's your warning that you're past your time, Minister.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

That's too bad.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

I'll go to Mr. Gill, please, for five minutes.

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to the ministers for coming.

Minister Ali, what is the salary amount for the CEO of the Defence Investment Agency?

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON]

Thank you, Chair, for the technical question. I will pass it on to my deputy.

[Bill Matthews]

I've seen it in the media, but the Treasury Board Secretariat does not have a role in the salary determination for the people appointed to those positions. We are the broader public service, so we're the executives and non-executive members.

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

What have you seen in the media, sir?

[Bill Matthews]

I've seen ranges around $700,000, but I do not know if that's accurate.

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

Is that the highest salary available for an appointee?