Industry Committee on May 5th, 2009

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Thank you. That's a good question.

It's important to cooperate with the provinces and territories. If there is a support program for broadband service, it would be possible to establish an action plan jointly with the Quebec government, for example. I know it has a plan to cover the regions where these services are not currently offered. It would be possible to get that information. Perhaps there would be a way to establish a plan that would combine the investments of the two governments.

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

From what I know about the Quebec government, there's currently no complementarity or harmonization.

So can you give us assurances, minister, that you will be instructing your officials to establish a complementary program with the Quebec government?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

That's what I hope. We have to see whether that's possible.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard and Mr. Minister.

Mr. Bouchard, there's more than one minister in the Department of Industry. Mr. Denis Lebel has responsibility for Canada Economic Development for the Quebec Regions.

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Of course, I know, but from what I understand, he reports to the minister here present.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

But Denis Lebel is responsible for Canada Economic Development for the Quebec Regions, not Mr. Clement.

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

I thought Mr. Lebel was under your orders, minister. I attributed too much responsibility to you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard.

Mr. Wallace.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, thank you for coming. I appreciate the excellent overview of what we're doing in the economic action plan, with the very high-level activity in your department and the responsibilities you have.

I have a couple of questions that are not really for you, actually, but for your staff, if you don't mind. Then I have one question for you.

I'm one of the people around the table who love estimates in terms of going through them. I still have my books from every year. I've gone through the things.

The estimates we're looking at, just so people are clear, are not really reflective of exactly what Minister Clement has put forward. They were done last fall, based on last year's budget. Is that an accurate statement? For us to see the actuals that were spent.... Normally a report comes to the House in the fall, I believe.

Somebody from the finance side might want to come forward, because there will be finance questions.

So it comes forward in the fall, and it doesn't come to committee but goes directly to the House. Is that an accurate statement?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Could you identify yourself, please, for members of the committee?

[Kevin Lindsey, Chief Financial Officer, Department of Industry]

I'm Kevin Lindsey, chief financial officer.

The public accounts, which go to the public accounts committee, contain the actual numbers. You're right, the departmental performance report will also include those actuals and will be tabled in the House.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

But they don't actually come to this committee directly. They go to the House first, right?

[Kevin Lindsey]

Correct.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Okay. I appreciate that. That might be something I'll be looking at.

I like to compare, because what we're comparing here is estimates. We call it the estimates around here, but it's the budget, and the budget from one year to the next doesn't tell us exactly how much was spent, really.

I'm on the finance committee too, and the vast majority of the finance estimates are requirements. There's no flexibility. There's no decision-making. The amount of money that we give to the provinces for transfers and so on is there. The 6% is policy on the HST transfer, and so on.

How much flexibility is in here in terms of a percentage basis? Does the department have a tremendous amount of say on what things get spent, or has it pretty much been determined?

Take wage rates, for example. You don't really have a say over what the wage rate will be in the department. Could you give me a breakdown of approximately what the percentage is? Or have you worked that out?

[Kevin Lindsey]

You are right with respect to salaries, which represent about 65% of our operating budget expenditures. The rates are non-discretionary. We have approximately 5,800 people. They're paid x amount of money. That consumes about 65% of the operating budget.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Okay.

When I look at the planning report in the estimates, at your individual report, the human resources allocations that you have there for 2009-2010 and the next two years after that are pretty steady, pretty stagnant. I'm assuming that's prior to the issues that we are now facing in the economy. Would that be a fair statement?

Do you expect that number to change, and by how much would they change, in supplementary estimates A, B, and C? Or do you think you'll be able to handle the workload with the number of people you have in the department now?

[Richard Dicerni, Deputy Minister, Department of Industry]

What we're trying to do now is redeploy personnel to address emerging priorities, such as the knowledge infrastructure program. We've brought people in from our regional offices. We've brought people in from different programs and redeployed them on a temporary basis to these priorities. It was the same thing with the marquee festivals program--partially because we needed to get the job done quickly and we did not have time to go through the process of hiring and so forth.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Okay.

Will all of the great things that the minister highlighted earlier be in supplementary estimates A, mostly? Will we be able to get that financing, then, in supplementary estimates A?

[Kevin Lindsey]

They'll come to us through a combination of supplementary estimates A and the statutory authority contained in the Budget Implementation Act for a portion of the initiatives. We will access the central Treasury Board vote 35 for a portion of the money.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Okay.

My second-last question, if I have time, is on something that has popped out for me here. I look for little changes that happen, or big changes, either way. Grants and contributions in these estimates had a significant increase. I know that this was done prior to the recent economic update, but what was this increase for?

[Kevin Lindsey]

The bulk of the increase, about $120 million of the $132 million, is attributable to two initiatives. One is an automotive innovation fund, which is included in these main estimates. It was not in the previous year's, although it came in to us through supplementary estimates. The second item is a top-up for the Canada Foundation for Innovation—same story: in these estimates, not last year's.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Not last year's.

My final question is for the minister. We've had the space agency people come to see us as members of the industry committee. Their concern is that we want to stay on top of the list in the sense of being a leading space nation. Do you have any comment? Are we heading in that direction? Are we doing that? Is the funding going to help us get there, continue that process? Do you have a comment on the space agency?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Yes, I must say to you and to the chair, certainly I've gotten to know the space agency very well. I take this part of my portfolio very seriously. I must say I'm very impressed with the management we have in place there. Steve MacLean is doing an excellent job for Canadians. He is developing a long-term plan for the Canadian Space Agency, which will capitalize on our strengths, make sure we continue to be.... Quite frankly, we consider ourselves a power in space—a power for good, of course—and we want to continue that. It helps us, as I mentioned. All the advanced robotics we do helps at the space station and other orbital initiatives, and it also helps us develop technology that could be used in mining, forestry, or whatever. So I'm quite looking forward to the long-term plan being completed, which it will be very, very, soon, and that will assist us in planning for the future.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you very much, Mr. Wallace, for those detailed questions, and Mr. Minister.

Mr. Masse.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair and gentlemen.

Mr. Minister, the automotive engineering building at the University of Windsor is shovel-ready and meets the criteria you've outlined. What's the delay in funding this project, especially given the conditions in Windsor right now?