Human Resources Committee on Dec. 8th, 2020

[Mark Perlman]

Right now it's roughly 27,000 people.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

You're the chief financial officer. Therefore, ultimately you're responsible for overseeing the use of funds under the operating budget. Is that correct?

[Mark Perlman]

That is correct.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

If the Auditor General were to conduct an audit of your department, where do you think they would find the most areas where the services could be improved or money could be saved?

[Mark Perlman]

We have a very elaborate evaluation organization within our department. That group is constantly looking for improvements and adjustments. I cannot pinpoint any one particular area, but I know we're always looking for continuous improvement within the organization.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Do you think the amount of time that a Canadian needs to wait on the phone to contact an agent at Service Canada is acceptable?

[Mark Perlman]

I know our agents work incredibly hard with the resources and volume they're working with.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

That's not what I asked.

[Mark Perlman]

I cannot speak to the funding we have that has been provided to us by the Government of Canada versus the volumes we get. I know this year our volumes have been increasing tremendously.

If you want to speak to the program, Mr. Groen is in charge of the call centres and processing, if you want to get into that level of detail.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. Groen, I am on very short time, so I will ask you to please report back to the committee on the last time you conducted an internal audit on the telephone services provided to Canadians through your department. Thank you very much.

My next question is to Madam Goulding. Has the Province of British Columbia asked for the federal government to play a role in provincial child care, yes or no?

[Janet Goulding]

I'm sorry. That's for Ms. Adam.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

I apologize.

Ms. Adam.

[Catherine Adam]

Mr. Chair, thank you for the question.

I'm not sure—

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Please give a yes or no answer.

Has the Province of British Columbia formally requested that the federal government play a more active role in provincial child care?

[Catherine Adam]

I can say that the Province of Manitoba, as a signatory to—

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Therefore, no, British Columbia has not. That's my question.

[Catherine Adam]

I have not had any communication from Manitoba that they specifically—

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

No, I'm asking about British Columbia.

[Catherine Adam]

I'm sorry.

Even there, British Columbia is also a signatory to the 2017 multilateral framework. They are a partner with the federal government in the multilateral framework and the funding that is provided to provinces and territories for early learning and child care.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Did the Province of British Columbia ask for a national framework or did they ask for direct transfers?

[Catherine Adam]

To my knowledge, the Province of British Columbia, as do other provinces, continues to work with ESDC on an ongoing basis on a range of issues related to implementing both the current funding for early learning and child care, as well as, during the pandemic, needs that the provinces and territories identified.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Thank you.

I have one more quick question. I apologize that I'm going really quickly, but it's a big department.

Is it the position of Employment and Social Development Canada, given the recent economic statement, that the provinces are not meeting the child care needs of their citizens? Is that why the Government of Canada needs to play a more active role in this area of provincial jurisdiction?

[Catherine Adam]

I would say that what we have had as communication with provinces, particularly in the early days of the pandemic, was a real concern over the pressures that the systems they have were facing and what providers were facing. Those conversations have led to further discussions in terms of what provinces and territories are identifying as some of the gaps for the needs.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Then it's generally the position of the department that the federal government should play a more active role in this area of provincial jurisdiction, even though, according to your previous answer, no provinces formally asked for a national child care program.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Please give a short answer. We're out of time.