Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to speak this evening on the estimates for the Privy Council Office, the policy department that serves the Prime Minister and serves the cabinet.
Canada is well prepared to meet the opportunities and challenges in the years ahead. Our common values and sound economic fundamentals, strong communities and global outlook have served Canada well and provided a solid foundation for achieving success and a higher quality of life for all Canadians in the future.
Success will require that Canadians work together. Together we can build a world leading economy, driven by innovation, skills and international trade. We can create a stronger and more inclusive society where all Canadians have access to high quality health services and live in strong and safe communities, built upon shared values such as respect for diversity and individual rights and where the needs of aboriginal Canadians can be met. We can ensure a clean healthy environment for Canadians and promote Canada's interests and sense of citizenship throughout the world.
The Government of Canada will do its part to advance these objectives based on the values of Canadians by promoting partnerships and acting as prudent stewards of the nation's finances. The government remains committed to the modernization of the public service so that it continues its proud tradition of serving Canadians by providing quality service and quality advice.
To advance this ambitious agenda for Canada, the Prime Minister will continue to rely on the advice and support of the Privy Council Office.
The PCOs estimates for 2002-03 show a net increase of $11.3 million. This represents and 11.1% increase in the financial requirements from $101.3 million in 2001-02 to $112.6 million in 2002-03. The increase pertains to the following items. There is an increase of $7.6 million for the commission on the future of health care in Canada. I think any hon. member who has had any contact with this commission which is travelling across Canada to get opinions and advice on the health care system knows that $7.6 million is extremely well spent.
There is an increase of $3.1 million related to the salary issues, such as compensation for collective bargaining and employee benefit costs. There is an increase of $2.6 million for the task force on modernizing human resource management in the public service. There is an increase of $700,000 related to the operational costs for the policy research initiative annual conference.
These increases have been offset by a decrease of $2.7 million for the sunsetting of contributions to special initiatives for Metis and non-status Indians and the Forum of Federations.
The mission of the PCO is to serve Canada and Canadians by providing the best non-partisan advice and support to the Prime Minister and cabinet. To accomplish this mission, the PCO focuses on four key objectives or outcomes. They are first, ensuring the efficient operation and appropriate support of the central decision making mechanisms of the government; second, increasing capacity to identify, understand and address the longer term policy issues facing Canada and Canadians; third, addressing long term policy issues regarding health care in Canada; and finally, providing impartial assistance to first nations and Canada in the settlement of specific land claims.
Let me expand on these strategic outcomes. First, the efficient operation and appropriate support of central decision making mechanisms of the government is the core of the mandate of the Privy Council Office. The cost of this is estimated at $97 million annually.
The Privy Council Office is a unique organization in the government, in that serves as both the cabinet secretariat and the Prime Minister's source of advice on a broad range of policy and operational issues and matters relating to the management of the federation. In carrying out these duties, the PCO must take into account a wide variety of external factors and public policy considerations.
For example, the PCO must consider demographic changes including increased diversity, aging and urbanization. It must take into consideration the state of the economy which includes economic performance across the country, Canada's ability to adapt to a knowledge based economy and development of international trade opportunities in North America and the world.
It must also consider the values and priorities of Canadians, including those regarding health care and Canada's security requirements; the state of the federation and relations with other governments in Canada; Canada's evolving role and place in an ever changing geo-political context; and finally, social and economic issues of key groups in Canadian society, such as aboriginal people and official language communities.
The PCO must continually adjust to respond to a changing environment, while consistently providing accurate, sensitive and timely advice on key regional, national and international issues affecting the country. In doing so, the PCO works collaboratively with other departments and agencies, provincial and territorial governments, the private and voluntary sectors as well as international stakeholders.
Let me describe some of the key services provided by the PCO to deliver on this core element of PCO's mandate. It provides professional and non-partisan policy advice and appropriate support to the Prime Minister and to other ministers within the Prime Minister's portfolio. Specifically they include: the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Infrastructure; the President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs; the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and the Leader of the Government in the Senate. It assures the efficient operation of the cabinet decision making process in accordance with the principles of responsible government, as well as the Prime Minister's prerogative.
In concrete terms, this means the PCO supports cabinet discussions of the government's agenda at regular meetings and through periodic cabinet planning sessions. It defines key objectives and priorities and oversees the development of policies consistent with the government's agenda. It facilitates discussions of proposed new initiatives or proposed program or policy changes discussed in the social and economic cabinet committees, as well as in the cabinet committee on government communications and at ad hoc and informal meetings of ministers.
In addition, the PCO oversees the preparation of departmental initiatives destined for policy approval at cabinet. This is done by ensuring that thorough analysis of proposals has been completed, that intergovernmental consultation has been carried out and that proposals advance the government's overall priorities.
The PCO also provides leadership, ensures policy coherence and facilitates interdepartmental and central agency co-ordination on: major policy, legal, legislative, machinery and regulatory issues; public service reform initiatives, including transition to a new human resource management system; public security and anti-terrorism initiatives, including improvements to the legislative framework and implementation of security measures contained in the 2001 budget; and improved border management with the United States through the implementation of the action plan for the smart border declaration.
In terms of corporate services, the PCO also provides a wide variety of supports to meet the diverse needs of the department and central agencies. These services include: access to accurate, relevant, integrated information for decision making; recruitment and retention of competent and representative employees; workplace support; technical infrastructure and information processing tools to enhance the decision making process and to facilitate the implementation of technological development and government-wide online services; modern management practices within the PCO in line with the government's modernization of comptrollership and human resources initiatives; a cost efficient system to manage the flow of correspondence Canadians send to their Prime Minister; and, security for the Prime Minister and the employees of the organization.
The second key objective of the PCO is to increase capacity to identify, understand and address the longer term policy issues facing Canada and Canadians. The cost of achieving this outcome is estimated at $5 million.
In the coming years the policy research initiative will continue to focus on two key priorities. It will accelerate research and conduct more indepth analysis in three specific areas: North American linkages, social cohesion and sustainable development. It will also integrate research findings into the policy process and strengthen the capacity of the policy community through programs such as the policy research development program and the policy research data group.
The third key objective of the PCO is to address long term policy issues regarding health care in Canada. This is estimated to cost $8 million and is the responsibility of the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada.
The commission's priorities are: first, to involve Canadian from all walks of life in public dialogue regarding the future of health care in Canada; second, to develop effective results oriented policies and measures to ensure the sustainability of a universally accessible, publicly funded health system in the country; and third, to submit a final report with recommendations on or about November 2002.
The fourth objective of PCO is the provision of impartial assistance to Canada's first nations in the settlement of specific land claims. The estimated cost is $6 million. Delivering this strategic outcome is the responsibility of the Indian Specific Claims Commission.
The commission's priorities are: first, to effectively respond to requests from the Government of Canada and first nations for high quality service and recommendations regarding specific land claims; second, to continue to provide impartiality both in the inquiry process and the ever growing number of mediation service requests; and third, to take a proactive approach to improving understanding among Canadians about specific claims issues.
The achievement of the outcomes I have described and the many services that support these key objectives are organized into the Privy Council Office Program's five business lines. These include: the Office of the Prime Minister's business line which is managed by the Prime Minister's chief of staff; the Minister's Office business line which consists of the four ministries I outlined earlier and in which each office is managed by the executive assistant to the minister; the Privy Council Office business line which constitutes the core component of the Privy Council Office Program and is managed by the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet who reports directly to the Prime Minister; the Commissions of Inquiry, Task Forces and Others business line which consists of the Policy Research Initiative, the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada and the Indian Specific Claims Commission; and the Corporate Services business line which consists of administration, financial services, informatics and technical services, corporate information services, human resources, and access to information and privacy and is managed by the assistant deputy minister of corporate services.
The Privy Council Office is the public service department that provides policy advice and support to the Prime Minister. This in turn supports the functioning of the cabinet committee system and a range of other essential services for the government and Canadians.