Procedure and House Affairs Committee on March 7th, 2017

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Good morning, everyone. The Speaker's time is very valuable, and we don't want to miss the opportunity to ask questions, so we'll try to start on time.

Welcome to the 53rd meeting of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. The meeting is being televised. Today the committee is studying the supplementary estimates (C) for 2016-17 and vote 1c under Parliamentary Protective Service.

We are pleased to have with us today the Honourable Geoff Regan, Speaker of the House of Commons. He is accompanied by officials from the Parliamentary Protective Service: Superintendent Mike O'Beirne, acting director, and Robert Graham, administration and personnel officer.

Just so that committee members know, the main estimates have also been tabled. We can do those at some time soon.

Mr. Speaker, the floor is yours. I know you're a very busy man. We're delighted you're here today. Thank you.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Speaker of the House of Commons]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'm delighted to be back at the procedure and House affairs committee, where I spent some quality time while I was the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader between 2001 and 2003. It's nice to be back again, this time of course answering questions, or trying to, instead of asking them.

I'm pleased to be here with Superintendent Mike O'Beirne, the acting director of the Parliamentary Protective Service, and Mr. Robert Graham, the acting corporate services officer for the protective service. We're also joined by other members of the PPS management team: Superintendent Alain Laniel, the officer in charge of operational support; Inspector Marie-Claude Côté, the officer in charge of operations; and, Melissa Rusk, executive officer and senior adviser to the director.

Since its creation on June 23, 2015, the PPS has made significant progress in unifying the Parliament Hill physical security mandate and in establishing itself as a single and independent parliamentary entity. Over the course of fiscal year 2016-17, its first full financial cycle, the PPS has implemented a series of new operational and organizational initiatives while addressing the complexities of the evolving external security environment.

In September 2016, a supplementary budget request of $7 million was approved to support ongoing costs for Parliament Hill security, one-time initial costs for the launch of resources optimization initiatives, and the requirements stemming from organizational structure developments.

In support of PPS' determination to build on the progress to date, which includes further strengthening its capacity to support an autonomous security service throughout the Parliamentary Precinct and the grounds of Parliament Hill, I am here to present PPS' supplementary estimates (C) and main estimates requests.

I'll begin by providing an overview of the PPS supplementary estimates (C) request, which totals $2.39 million, including a total voted budgetary requirement of $2.3 million and a statutory budgetary component of $90,000 to fund the employee benefit plan.

The total voted budgetary requirement is related to funding for an operational contingency fund and additional administrative requirements.

The PPS is seeking an operational contingency fund in the amount of $2.1 million dollars, which will be used for operational requirements not anticipated earlier in the year, including security for the Canada 150 celebrations on December 31, 2016, and for future requirements that may occur prior to the fiscal year-end.

In addition to the operational contingency fund, we are requesting a sum of $200,000 to fund administrative requirements. This includes funding for payroll, language training, and Employee Assistance Program services that the House of Commons Administration is providing to PPS on a cost-recovery basis throughout the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

Due to external labour relations factors, including delays associated with the negotiations surrounding the future collective bargaining units, PPS is requesting funds to cover the anticipated additional external legal services.

I hope I'm not going too fast for the interpreters, who I know do a fabulous job, but it can be challenging with someone who speaks as quickly as I do.

Let us now turn our attention to the PPS's main estimates request for 2017-18, which totals $68.2 million. This includes a voted budget component of $62.1 million and a $6.1-million statutory budget requirement for the employee benefits plan.

This 2017-18 main estimates request represents a $6.1-million increase over the PPS's 2016-17 main estimates submission. In addition to its permanent voted budget of $56.3 million, which was approved in the 2016-17 main estimates and established as a result of Bill C-59, the PPS is seeking an additional $6.1 million in permanent funding to support the ongoing implementation of security enhancements and to further stabilize its organizational structure.

Several reviews were conducted following the events of October 22, 2014, resulting in 161 recommendations for the improvement of security on Parliament Hill. The PPS received temporary funding approval in September 2016 to launch its mobile response team, or MRT, initiative. The implementation of this initiative will address a significant number of these 161 recommendations and enhance the PPS's overall response capacity. PPS is requesting permanent funding in the amount of $1.2 million to further implement and sustain the needs of this initiative.

To support the continuation of the Senate's previously approved security enhancement initiatives, additional funding in the amount of $787,000 will be transferred to the PPS on April 1, 2017, given the direct alignment with the PPS's mandate.

PPS is also seeking permanent funding in the amount of $3 million to stabilize the protective posture in the newly reopened Wellington Building, and to uphold pre-existing third party security agreements throughout the Precinct.

Given the anticipated increase in the number of visitors to the Precinct and grounds of Parliament Hill throughout Canada's 150th anniversary celebrations, a total of $400,000 in temporary funding is required to support the costs of the baggage screening facility at 90 Wellington through 2017-2018. This renewed temporary funding request will not only enhance the visitor experience but will enable PPS to evaluate this facility's effectiveness, feasibility and long-term sustainability.

This results in a cumulative request of $5.3 million for previously approved and new security enhancement initiatives throughout the Parliamentary Precinct and the grounds of Parliament Hill.

In addition to the aforementioned funding request for operational enhancement initiatives, the PPS is seeking a permanent increase of $886,000 to fund a series of corporate service requirements. This includes funding for full-time communications resources to support the PPS's internal and external messaging, along with the funding that is necessary to fulfill its existing service-level agreements with the House administration for the provision of human resources, as well as information and technical services.

In closing, the PPS remains steadfast in its commitment to operational excellence through the provision of professional physical security services throughout the parliamentary precinct and the grounds of Parliament Hill, something that I think is very important. It's certainly important to me for the security of everyone who works here and all those who visit us here.

To further enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its service delivery model, the PPS will focus on the ongoing implementation of existing and new resource optimization initiatives, the identification of opportunities to leverage innovation, and a strengthened commitment to collaboration with its various parliamentary partners.

This concludes my overview of the PPS's supplementary estimates (C) and 2017-18 main estimates request, Mr. Chair. I look forward, and we look forward, to the questions that are to come.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. You were informative, as always. You did make some comments on the main estimates, which was great as background, but today the committee has been prepared for only the supplementary estimates of the PPS, which I hope will be our topic of questioning. Hopefully, we'll have you back soon for the main estimates.

Mr. Graham.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's a pleasure to be here, after having worked for you.

I want to understand a bit more about PPS. I was here before the merger, as were you, and I would like to understand, administratively, what were the changes. When PPS was created, it was no longer part of the House of Commons directly.

What is the administrative structure for pay and benefits, and all these things now? Is there a completely separate organization for that from the House of Commons? Has that all been recreated for the PPS?

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

I was speaking earlier about some of the things whereby funding will be provided to the House of Commons administration to pay for the services it provides the PPS, like human resources, for example. There are a variety of things wherein the House of Commons has existing setups and administration that deals with this kind of stuff. Rather than creating a whole new set for the PPS, it's obviously more efficient to share that.

I'll let Superintendent O'Beirne continue, and fill you in further, and be more accurate, I'm sure.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

We're all about details at procedure and House affairs.

[Superintendent Mike O'Beirne, Acting Director, Parliamentary Protective Service]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Certainly, the coming together of all three entities to form the PPS was of the operational resources, predominantly. That meant having to turn ourselves to look at optimizing how best to create the behind-the-scenes operational support services and/or administrative or corporate services.

As mentioned in the Speaker's opening remarks, there are some service-level agreements that are currently under way with the House of Commons to provide HR services and IT support functions. As mentioned, that's to avoid duplication and to ensure that existing services are optimized and maximized.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Is there anywhere in PPS where there are now officers serving where civilians had been in those positions prior to the merger?

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Where civilians had been previously?

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Yes, administratively or anywhere in the structure of PPS that had been run by civilians before the merger of PPS, is there anything that is now run by uniformed officers.

[Supt Mike O'Beirne]

We have personnel operating in operational units. For example, we have training units and planning units. These personnel are made up of our operational folks who came together from all three previously separate entities, but they are not in administrative roles per se. They are in operational functions, which means they are the ones who are at the range on a daily basis. They are the ones who are deploying the actual kinetic training exercises.

From a planning perspective, the integrated planning unit is also made up of our operational personnel. They are the ones who attend all of the operational meetings, the planning mechanisms, with internal and external partners. They operationalize the plan on the day of an event. They're on the ground with our operational folks and commanders.

As far as other positions are concerned, let's say you're referring to purely administrative functions like corporate functions and things like that, perhaps I'll turn it over to Mr. Graham. We don't have personnel actively involved in those administrative-only positions.

[Robert Graham, Administration and Personnel Officer, Parliamentary Protective Service]

If we're talking about finance and HR, I can't think of any instance where a constable is working in an administrative capacity right now.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Do we have enough PPS officers on the floor right now? Are we fully staffed?

[Supt Mike O'Beirne]

The PPS will always continue to use all its existing resources, and distribute them throughout our area of operation to maximize them in accordance with our established priorities, to continue ensuring an open and accessible Parliament, and combining that with a very real need for security.

That said, we have to be very nimble in our approach to future demands. We're in constant consultations with internal and external partners to determine exactly that resource level. That continues every day.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

I think it's invaluable to understand that it takes time. If there's a decision to add some people, for example, in view of certain circumstances, that takes time. In fact, it takes as much as 10 months from the time you start saying, okay, we have to prepare for this, to the process whereby you select people, train them, get them equipped, etc. That's a long period. The PPS is constantly adjusting as a result of that and dealing with changes. If someone gets sick or gets another job, there are changes. It's a situation of constant adjustment. Sometimes that leads to overtime, for instance, but the objective really is to try to make sure that the staff is there if necessary so you don't have to have people doing much overtime.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Do you have a sense of how many people are doing overtime these days?

[Supt Mike O'Beirne]

Well, if you are looking for an absolute numerical value, I don't have that information with me today. I could provide that at a later time.

[Robert Graham]

Sorry, could you repeat the question?

[A voice]

How many people are doing overtime basically?

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

On a daily basis.

[Supt Mike O'Beirne]

Yes, we can provide that information to you in a follow-up document. But on a daily basis, we have to be responsive to the events that are occurring every single day on Parliament Hill and in various areas around the precinct. That, combined with external factors like the global threat environment, always positions us to have to be very responsive. If I can take a step back, certainly after the events of October 22, there was a posture change on Parliament Hill. We're looking at ensuring that we continue to resource those changes effectively and optimize every resource as best as possible.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Is there any—

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Sorry, David, your time is up.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you. I may have time to continue later.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Mr. Schmale.