Evidence of meeting #18 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was pbo.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Crowfoot, AB
We'll have time for the deputy in the next hour.
At what hour of what day...? Will you do it by the end of today?
Liberal
Conservative
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Crowfoot, AB
That sounds like what you might have said on October 30.
Will it be today or tomorrow, then, that the PBO will have that information?
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON
What I can commit is that we will provide it as soon as possible.
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON
I don't have a date. I will provide it as soon as possible.
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON
We have to communicate with the public service employees. They're the impacted party here. This would be unreasonable, as an employer, to communicate with someone else before communicating with the public service employees.
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON
We're dealing with the livelihood of the public service, and I think it's fair that we finalize those details and communicate with them before we release it to the PBO.
Conservative
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Crowfoot, AB
Minister, you are asking parliamentarians to vote on these estimates while denying parliamentarians the information that they are entitled to in order to assess the estimates you have tabled. It is not acceptable to.... You are not free, under the Parliament of Canada Act, to pick and choose what you think is a fair or correct order of things.
I'll ask you again. Will you commit by—tomorrow is Friday—tomorrow afternoon? Will you comply with the lawful request for information by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, yes or no?
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON
Mr. Kelly, let's not play politics with the lives of the public service employees. I'm within my legal authority. We have presented in Parliament main estimates, and you have all the information there, but you're asking about the PBO date.... With the legal authorities, as soon as possible we will be able to provide....
Conservative
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Crowfoot, AB
I think it is very telling that you think parliamentarians are playing politics when they ask for information to which they are entitled in order to study and assess estimates that have to be voted on, on behalf of taxpayers. You don't have the choice to decide whether or not you release the information.
Liberal
Liberal
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON
—to respond to the question. It would not be fair.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
Minister, the time is up.
Mr. Gasparro is up next. Perhaps he will allow you some time, but the time is up.
Mr. Gasparro, the floor is yours.
November 27th, 2025 / 3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Vince Gasparro Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Minister, would you like to respond? You can take up some of my time.
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON
I would just say that this is what we're dealing with here—public service employees—and I'd like to thank them for their service to Canadians. This is their livelihood.
We're finding savings. We're balancing the operational budget. We're finding savings and investing in priorities that matter most to Canadians, like housing, infrastructure, defence.
The PBO sent that letter, and my team will be providing a response to that letter, but the time that was given was five working days. We had not finalized details at the time, and it would have been totally irresponsible and unreasonable for us to provide that information to the PBO prior to providing it to the impacted or affected parties, the public service employees.
That is my response. I just wanted to pass it on. The main estimates are before the Parliament, so all the details are there.
Liberal
Vince Gasparro Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
You referenced public service and you referenced investments. In terms of public service and investments, I'd like to talk about the RCMP.
As you know, many Canadians and most parliamentarians believe the RCMP does vital service within our national security apparatus. Some of the investments our government is providing to the RCMP include an increase of almost $18 million in operating capital, $41 million in grants and contributions, and $70 million related to health benefits, disability benefits. How will these funds improve policing effectiveness, officer welfare and public safety?
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON
First of all, let me express my sincere appreciation for and dedication to the public service employees across the country and RCMP and CBSA officers. They put their lives in danger in their work protecting Canadians and delivering services to Canadians.
In a comprehensive expenditure review, we had different targets for defence. It was 2% of that. Those savings were finding and reinvesting into priorities like training and providing tools to our law enforcement agencies by hiring 1,000 more CBSA officers, RCMP officers. We're investing in our armed forces to secure our borders and to secure our communities. These are necessary investments that we need to make in order to provide the tools for our law enforcement agencies to deliver services to Canadians.
Liberal
Vince Gasparro Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
Drilling down a little bit on the investment piece, in the regional economic growth through innovation program, obviously multiple agencies are receiving funding under this program. How does the government coordinate these investments to maximize economic growth and innovation across different regions throughout the country?
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON
I can ask my deputy to give you more technical details on that.