Procedure and House Affairs Committee on May 11th, 2006

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'll call the meeting to order.

I would like to advise members that this morning's meeting is in public. Once the witnesses have concluded and we have a vote, I would like to discuss future business for just a few moments.

I would like to introduce, not that an introduction is necessary, the Honourable Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House; and the Clerk of the House, Audrey O'Brien. It's good to see you again, Audrey. It seems as if you were just here.

Perhaps I could hand the floor to Your Honour, and you can introduce yourself and tell us a little bit and introduce any of your officials. Then we'll carry forward.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Speaker of the House of Commons]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

It's a pleasure to be here to meet with colleagues and deal with the estimates of the House. This has been an annual feature. I can't remember if we did it last year, though. I might have missed; I can't recall. I feel it's been a long time since I've been here, in any event. It's a pleasure to be back and to have this chance to make some comments and then answer some questions. I have the Clerk with me, and between us I think we'll muddle through most of the questions.

Today I'll be presenting the 2006-2007 House of Commons main estimates. For reference purposes you've been given a document showing the year-over-year changes in the main estimates from 2005-2006 to 2006-2007. I'm confident you'll agree with me that the main estimates reflect the services that benefit and aptly represent the interests of members.

On October 31, 2005, the Board of Internal Economy approved the main estimates in the amount of $400,323,895. This represents an increase of $17,103,200 or 4.5% over the previous fiscal year.

To facilitate our discussion, I will be discussing the estimates along the following four themes: members' services, committees and associations, salaries and employer's obligations.

First of all, in order to provide additional budgetary flexibility within Members' Operating Budgets, the Board of Internal Economy decided to fund certain services centrally.

The board assigned approximately $1.8 million to constituency office telephone and wireless device services to provide the members' main constituency office with a comprehensive package of services. In addition to giving more flexibility within MOBs, this arrangement allowed the House to capitalize on the benefits of centrally managing telephone and wireless device services. Besides permitting consolidated invoicing and streamlining processes, this arrangement has reduced inconsistencies in capacity and service levels, both among regions and in comparison between Hill and constituency offices.

Similarly, the main estimates also provide over $1.7 million in permanent funding to the furniture and equipment improvement fund for constituency offices. As you know, prior to this initiative all furniture and equipment was purchased within members' operating budgets. The House administration has negotiated standing offers that bring about discounts, and members can charge up to $5,000 a year to the central fund. Here again, members who purchase furniture and equipment against these standing offers will have more leeway within their operating budgets.

In addition to these two new funds, the Board of Internal Economy approved permanent funding of $3.6 million to provide a 3 per cent increase to Members' Operating Budgets. This percentage allows members to cope with the rising costs of doing business.

The Main Estimates also provide an additional $512,000 to the production of ten percenters. This will allow Printing Services to keep pace with the printing volume that has increased exponentially over the past 10 years.

Furthermore, following an in-depth review of the office of the Law Clerk and parliamentary counsel's administrative requirements, the estimates provide funding for three additional employees. The ultimate goal for this and other House administration service areas is to ensure that members continue to receive high levels of service.

Additionally, in response to the demographics of members and House officers' employees, the main estimates allot funds to your employees' retirement planning needs. Full-time employees aged 40 and over will be invited to a three-day retirement training session in Ottawa, and these sessions will be offered four times a year.

I want to turn now to the importance that the Main Estimates place on information management investments in sustaining the delivery of services to members. We will all agree that we — as members — rely heavily on technology in order to conduct our parliamentary functions. As a result, the Main Estimates assign $3.2 million to this initiative.

The Board of Internal Economy has consistently supported the use of technology by providing funding to develop and sustain core information management business applications required to support members in their parliamentary functions.

Two applications you might be familiar with—PeopleSoft, our human and financial resource management system, and PRISM—both have upwards of 1,000 users each and provide the foundations for countless procedural, human resources, and financial services.

It is critical that the House administration continue to build capacity to respond to increasing requests for enhancements and conduct ongoing updates, maintenance, and testing for these indispensable applications. At the same time, we must ensure an effective transfer and retention of expertise, while identifying new technological opportunities and functionalities.

Most importantly, the House administration is committed to continuing to provide the high-quality information management support that members have come to expect.

The main estimates also reflect the need to support members in their roles as ambassadors of the Canadian parliamentary system, and as such the estimates provide $1.5 million in funding to enable Canada to host three conferences in 2006-07: first the 52nd annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly; the 12th Asia-Pacific Parliamentarians conference on environment and development, which took place in Whistler about two weeks ago; and the 44th regional conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. This was the first time Canada has hosted the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarians conference, I should mention.

All of these conferences are funded according to the usual 30%-70% cost-sharing arrangement between the Senate and the House. We pay 70%; they pay 30%.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

How would that happen?

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Well, they have one-third of the members, roughly. I guess that's the deal.

Resources are also provided to hire an additional employee who will be mostly dedicated to the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians. This person will help respond to the evolving requirements of the association.

In previous years the Board of Internal Economy has provided temporary funding to support new standing committees, an increased level of interparliamentary activities, and the implementation of the modernization committee's recommendations, which included $160,000 for technical consultant services. The main estimates show that this temporary funding is no longer required in 2006-07.

Let me turn now to the funding that the Main Estimates assign to salary increases and adjustments. The Board of Internal Economy approved $2.7 million in additional funding for salaries for employees of the House Administration. These funding increases are in keeping with recent negotiated settlements in the public service.

Also, as you know, in accordance with Bill C-30, members' salaries and allowances were adjusted based on the average increase in base rate wages in Canada's private sector. The main estimates provide $1.2 million for this increase.

You might also notice that there is an adjustment to the funding provided for employee benefit plans. These rates are managed and set annually by the Treasury Board of Canada, and the rates for 2006-07 have decreased. As a result, our contributions to employee benefit plans have been reduced by $2.3 million.

Finally, the Main Estimates also assign funding to the House's obligations as an employer. Funding of $2.6 million is required for other personnel costs in central budgets. This will cover upcoming expenses resulting from the growing number of employees who will soon be eligible for retirement.

In terms of employer's obligations, funding is also required for workplace safety and insurance board claims. This funding will help reflect the increased levels of expenditures since the budget was first established in 2000-01.

The additional spending on workplace safety and insurance board claims can be attributed to new types of claims that have only been approved since 2002-03 and to the economic increase in House employees' salaries and the aging demographics of the House's workforce.

I have now provided a brief overview of the 2006-07 estimates that were approved by the Board of Internal Economy. I remain confident that having heard this, you will agree with my original findings that these estimates are representative of our interests as members of Parliament and members of the House, and that they respond to today's requirements while providing strategic investments to meet evolving needs.

Between us, the Clerk and I will be glad to answer any questions you may have concerning these matters.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Thank you very much.

Our round of questioning has been going fairly well, so we'll continue with that format. We'll have seven minutes on the first round, and that will give us time for a second and possibly a third round, if necessary.

Is there anybody from the official opposition who would like to start the questioning?

Monsieur Simard, please.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

Mr. Chairman, one of the questions I have is with regard to the employee benefits plan and the fact that it was reduced.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Order, please.

My apologies.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

With regard to the employee benefits plan--and it's indicated very clearly that it's based on the Treasury Board of Canada--what is that based on exactly, and why is it reduced this year?

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

I'll invite the director general of corporate services to give a more detailed answer to that question.

Mr. Desroches.

[Luc Desroches, Director General, Corporate Services, House of Commons]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The employee benefits plans are the employer's share of unemployment insurance, CPP, superannuation, dental plans, etc. All these plans are administered by Treasury Board, who's the employer of the public service. We piggyback on all of these plans. The Treasury Board makes the payments to all these insurance companies, etc., and they estimate the contribution for employee benefit plans as a percentage of salaries. Last year it was set, I believe, at 21% of salaries. That is what every department, including ourselves, the House of Commons, has to contribute to the pot. The Treasury Board manages that pot to pay these insurance companies, and once in a while they readjust. This year they said 20% of salary base should be enough to pay for these benefit plans, so that's why it's decreased. There's been no decrease in terms of coverage, etc.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

I also noticed that many of the increases are for new technology, and that would make sense in this day and age. As we know, we probably spent a considerable amount of money in the House of Commons to accommodate computers. Do we foresee any other major expenses in that regard in the House for the next little while, for improvements?

[Audrey O'Brien, Clerk of the House of Commons]

Mr. Chairman, one of the things that's very important to realize is that the investments we make in technology always have to be kept up, in terms of being maintained, but also, as is the nature of technology, they have to be revisited from time to time, so that they can be brought up to date with the newer technology that's constantly being developed.

I have nothing really to put before you right now. One of the things we're trying to do, as we did last year, when we presented cases to the Board of Internal Economy, is to present a House-wide strategy with regard to technological innovation. Some of that is going to be enhancements of what we've already got in order to create a greater capacity and leverage the investment we already have there, and in some instances we're going to be asking for new money to take advantage of new developments in technology.

It's one of those things for which we don't have any specific plans at the moment, specific things that we'd like to try to market to you, if you will, at this opportunity, but I think the idea is that it represents a continuing investment. I think the people who told us that you invest in technology and then you reap huge benefits forgot that you have to keep investing. And that's an important message to get across, so thank you for the opportunity.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Another aspect of that issue will be dealt with in the course of the year. Because of changing technologies, a change will have to be made to the video stuff we have in our offices. We're going to have to switch to DVD at some point. Whether that's going to happen in this financial year or not, it's something that's going to happen. Members want to watch one another's speeches, I know, and doing it on video is going to be increasingly difficult because they're going to stop making those things, I'm told, and we're going to have to switch to DVD. It will be a space-saver. Maybe you'll be able to get more of your friends' speeches on one DVD.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

One of the situations I have run into lately is with regard to the $5,000 allowance for furniture and equipment. If I'm not mistaken, a deal was negotiated with two national organizations, I believe Grand & Toy and another firm--I'm not sure exactly which one--that prevents us, basically, from buying locally in a lot of cases. I'd just like to know if the deals that were made provide us with substantial discounts, because I was not able to buy in my riding. As a matter of fact, I believe there was one organization in Winnipeg, and I can imagine that the people who are in rural areas are certainly limited by this fact. Was it worthwhile organizing this deal with these two organizations?

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

The subject has been discussed in the board. I can say that much.

Luc will have something to say about that.

[Luc Desroches]

Thank you.

We have negotiated substantial discounts with Grand & Toy and Corporate Express. They have national stores across Canada and warehouses in rural areas. The prices in the catalogues that we provided to the members show that there are some significant discounts that have been negotiated. Other organizations, other large employers, have also negotiated very large discounts with these firms. I know somebody recently compared our catalogue with the catalogue that somebody else had, and they had some discounts. We have the bigger discounts. We have that in our contract with Corporate Express.

There is another savings also. When members buy locally, they pay provincial sales tax. The House of Commons does not pay provincial sales tax, so automatically there is a saving—except in Alberta, naturally—of provincial sales tax of 7% to 8% across the country. That's a minimum, because members, if purchasing with their member's operating budget funds, would have to pay provincial sales tax. There are significant discounts.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Mr. Simard, you have 40 seconds left.

I wonder if I can just clarify. Are you suggesting that when we order through this $5,000 House furniture allowance, the local Grand & Toy in my riding or Mr. Simard's riding is benefiting from that purchase?

[Luc Desroches]

You put your order through Grand & Toy, and obviously Grand & Toy will decide who will ship it to you, but if there is somebody that is closer to you, I would think that Grand & Toy would make that decision.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

What happens, in fact, is that a local Winnipeg supplier like Cunningham's, a family store, is completely eliminated from even bidding on this, which is a little bit frustrating. That was the point.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Thank you, Mr. Simard.

Mr. Hill.

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Thank you.

I have a couple of questions, and if I have any time left, I will share it with my colleague, Mr. Preston.

The estimates here are for just over $400 million. Can you explain where you draw the line? Is that for all employees on Parliament Hill--the gardeners, for example, the people who drive the little buses, everybody?

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Yes. It wouldn't include the Public Works of Canada employees who work on the Hill, but all the employees of the House of Commons--not the Senate, of course--all members and all members' operating budgets, which would include all their staff.

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Of that $400 million, can you explain what the breakdown is with respect to the ongoing maintenance of, for example, the infrastructure to the buildings and stuff? Is any of that under this budget, or is all that under Public Works? How is that done?

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

It's all under Public Works. We would maintain things like the equipment on the Hill that is owned by the House--computer stuff, wiring, and that sort of thing--but the Department of Public Works maintains this building.