Evidence of meeting #17 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 39th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cuts.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
It's a very technical question and the answer could be useful.
Carole Swan Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Industry
Sorry, this is a question on the social economy?
Bloc
Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
I would like to know the breakdown of the $40 million.
Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Industry
I believe we're talking about a two-year period.
The entire social economy program offered by FedNor, part of the program administered by Industry Canada....
Bloc
Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
But was this the money earmarked for...?
Bloc
Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
I will get someone else to ask my question.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
We want to try to get through as many members as possible today, so we'll go now to Mr. Carrie.
Conservative
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank all the witnesses for being here at such short notice.
One of the things coming from Oshawa, where we had this great news recently about the Beacon Project, a project that did benefit from the Technology Partnerships Canada program.... And there has been some controversy over it.
I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit more about the program, what's good about it and what was not so good about the program.
Deputy Minister, Department of Industry
Upon assuming this job, I had the benefit of briefings from a number of colleagues, and I also went to see a number of people around this table, including Monsieur Crête and Monsieur Vincent, who spoke to me about this. It is a program that has, in some respects, had a bit of a checkered past. A number of companies have brought to our attention the fact that it has made significant contributions, including people like Mike Lazaridis from RIM, and some people from the aerospace sector, obviously, have really underlined the contribution this program has made to aerospace. I have also had the benefit of reading a number of comments and criticisms made of the program's shortcomings as they relate to inappropriate transparency and perhaps the use, at times, of lobbyists who were undeclared.
So there have been some, I would say, positive aspects, and there have also been some shortcomings that were identified—perhaps through a number of members of this committee—which the minister has undertaken to improve.
Conservative
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
Thank you very much.
With the expenditure savings that have been announced, will they affect any of the projects currently in the pipeline?
Deputy Minister, Department of Industry
As Monsieur Lapierre has mentioned, there are a number of projects in the pipeline. We are currently reviewing those.
By withdrawing $20 million, at some point some projects will be impacted, given that it's a program geared to supporting projects. But we will attempt, with the funds that are remaining, to focus on the priority ones that provide best value on a technology development front, as well as the other objectives of the program.
Conservative
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
Thank you very much.
I notice as well there was a $50 million one-time reduction in excess reserves at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. Can you tell the committee how that came about and how we were able to get such a significant one-time reduction at CIPO?
Deputy Minister, Department of Industry
CIPO, as you know, processes requests for patents, licences, and so forth, and they have a fixed rate at which people who are applying for patents or licences must pay a fee.
Over the years this agency has accumulated—partially through good management, partially through the fees they are receiving—an amount of about $50 million. CIPO is a special operating agency, and within its terms and conditions, its operating rules, the Treasury Board has the opportunity, at different points in time, to access the revolving fund that is established. A number of other agencies operate under that same premise.
The management of the place, which I emphasize is quite good, was accumulating a certain amount of additional moneys with a view to perhaps significantly overhauling its IT system. We have discussed this initiative with them and have said that until that gets approved and reviewed, the Treasury Board, as is its privilege to do, would take the money that is sitting there and apply it to the reduction of governmental expenditures.
Conservative
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
Okay.
I was wondering if you had any solid numbers on how much money was actually saved altogether from unused funds. Is that how most of it came out, from funds that weren't being used in different programs?
Conservative
Deputy Minister, Department of Industry
In the stuff that went out on Monday there was a description. The government established a typology of a grouping of four themes under which we had things like Statistics Canada, tourism, CIPO. Those are the ones that I could speak to.
Conservative
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for being here.
In the cuts, there are significant departments, like tourism, that get whacked pretty hard. There is $95 million in tourism-related cuts in total in this proposal. What would have been the percentages if you did a broad-range cut? I'm not saying that would have been the best way to go, but what would that have been as a percentage of the cuts, and why did tourism receive such a hard cut?