Evidence of meeting #40 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 departments.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
The public does not see what those expenses are. Is that correct?
Secretary to the Governor General, Office of the Governor General's Secretary
Currently, it's not disclosed publicly.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Okay.
The best way for me to really demonstrate the problem is by looking at the Governor General's trip to the Middle East in 2022. Mary Simon went to the Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait. The total cost of that trip was about $1.3 million. That included flights, accommodation and hospitality. This committee studied the Governor General's travel because Canadians saw what was going on. The point was to make sure that there was better planning, better cost control and better transparency.
Which of this committee's 2023 recommendations on the travel of governors general have been fully implemented?
Secretary to the Governor General, Office of the Governor General's Secretary
I'd have to go back to each of those to look at them individually, but I can tell you that many of them have been implemented, with Global Affairs Canada, which is responsible for international travel. We have been working very closely with them since 2022.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Perhaps we can go backwards, then. If you don't know how many were implemented, do you know how many were not completed?
Secretary to the Governor General, Office of the Governor General's Secretary
I'll have to follow up with the committee regarding the recommendations, if I could.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Please provide us with an explanation.
What specific safeguards are in place right now to make sure the reckless spending on travel by past governors general, which we saw as Canadians, doesn't happen again?
Secretary to the Governor General, Office of the Governor General's Secretary
As I said, we are working very closely with Global Affairs Canada and National Defence, which is also involved in international travel, to make sure that each of these expenses is done with probity. I certainly want transparency on these expenses, and I want them to be done in a proper way.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
There were reports that the office purchased clothing for Governor General Mary Simon because she had retired much of her professional wardrobe. Canadians want to know whether this practice is going to continue. Will taxpayers be expected to pay for professional attire for the incoming GG?
Secretary to the Governor General, Office of the Governor General's Secretary
There is currently a clothing allowance for governors general. Every year we look at this to see how it can be adjusted and—
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
That's a yes, then.
There have been reports about a Rideau Hall skating rink project, including major projected costs, a sole-source contract and donations flowing through the Rideau Hall Foundation.
What is the total cost of that project, and how much of it was paid for by taxpayers?
Secretary to the Governor General, Office of the Governor General's Secretary
The total cost of the Rideau Hall rink this past year, through private donations, was $350,000. None of it was taxpayers' money.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Were donors offered tax receipts, VIP invitations, letters, photos, plaques or any other recognition connected to the project?
Secretary to the Governor General, Office of the Governor General's Secretary
There was recognition associated with the project, absolutely.
Secretary to the Governor General, Office of the Governor General's Secretary
Working closely with the Rideau Hall Foundation, we had pictures taken of the individuals who came for the launch of the Rideau Hall rink. It is important that this historic property and this historic rink are preserved—
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
My time is almost up. I think I have 10 more seconds.
At a time when Canadians are being told to tighten their belts, I believe they deserve a clear answer about how public money is being spent at Rideau Hall. We'd appreciate it if we could get more transparency and find out what changes you've made since 2023.
Liberal
Jenna Sudds Liberal Kanata, ON
Thank you to all the witnesses for being with us today.
Perhaps I'll start with you, Mr. Hammond.
You mentioned during your remarks the support from the department with respect to the new Defence Investment Agency, if I heard you correctly. Could you give us some context as to what the implications are and what resources are being dedicated toward this?
Chief Financial Officer, Department of Public Works and Government Services
[Inaudible—Editor]
I'm sorry. Shall I start again, Mr. Chair?
Chief Financial Officer, Department of Public Works and Government Services
As you rightly point out, PSPC has been supporting the stand up of the Defence Investment Agency as a special operating agency within PSPC as a department.
We had funding allocated to the agency. We provided some funding through our joint transition office funding, which was provided to PSPC previously to review regulations and the procurement process in order to streamline the defence procurement. That funding was allocated to the agency.
We also allocated, internally, up to $5 million for this fiscal year from our departmental reserve funds to support the agency as it starts up. Budget 2025 announced some additional funding for the agency starting in 2026-27. That was supplemented through the funding that was announced in the spring economic update recently.
Liberal
Jenna Sudds Liberal Kanata, ON
Excellent. Thank you very much for that clarity. It is an important initiative that the government is taking on.
I would like to move to Mr. Davis.
You mentioned a number of things in your remarks relating to the moment that we're in and the need to ensure that our digital infrastructure is secure and that we are looking at sovereign solutions as much as possible.
I was at a conference in Ottawa yesterday on cybersecurity, so that's on my mind in this moment. Cybersecurity threats are increasing in both sophistication and in cost. With that lens, from a financial and operational risk perspective, how is Shared Services Canada prioritizing investments when it comes to cybersecurity and, I'd also add, quantum-safe measures?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Chief Financial Officer, Shared Services Canada
Cybersecurity is a priority, not just for us but for all the departments that we work with. Over and above that, there is the cyber tripartite, which includes CSE and the Treasury Board Secretariat.
From a priority perspective, through previous budgets we've received a series of funding for cybersecurity, so we're in the implementation stage of several of our key cybersecurity initiatives to modernize some of the technology that was historically, maybe, a little more manual in process. We continue to advance that capability.
Liberal
Jenna Sudds Liberal Kanata, ON
That's wonderful to hear, as well as daunting in an area in which these investments are certainly worth their weight in gold.
I'd ask you to speak a bit more, from a financial and operational risk perspective, around what we're seeing and the priority in which quantum and quantum-safe are now permeating within SSC, recognizing that quantum presents both an amazing upside in opportunities and some real risks that we need to be on top of as a government and be prepared for. Are we seeing that in the investments that are being made now, and are we preparing for that?
