Debates of May 19th, 2022

Public Works and Government Services—Main Estimates, 2022-23

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Mr. Chair, it is on her website. That is where I got it from. There is a footnote there. Pfizer is also projected to be 65 million doses a year. Therefore, 25 million doses plus 65 million doses is 90 million doses.

How much will those 90 million doses cost the Canadian taxpayer this year?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Chair, I have a couple of things I will say to that. The first is with respect to doses. We do have arrangements with the suppliers that if we need to push doses further back, we are able to do that.

The second thing, with respect to the cost, is to say the health and safety of Canadians was our top priority. We procured over 100 million doses, and every Canadian has the eligibility to have a full complement because of the strong procurement.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Mr. Chair, we were talking about transparency tonight. I asked a simple question.

How much does it cost to procure 90 million doses for 2022? It should be pretty easy to answer.

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Chair, we cannot disclose the details of the contract, but we can say that the overall cost is $9 billion.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Mr. Chair, on April 29, the minister appeared before committee and did a fine job, I will admit. I asked her a question about the Prime Minister's $750,000 kitchen renovation at Harrington Lake and she said she would get back to me. I wonder if she has had time to look it up and figure out what comes with the $750,000 kitchen renovation.

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Chair, what I would say is I am happy to have my team get back to the hon. member with respect to the details. In the official residence portfolio, which is the six official residences and 49 ancillary buildings, 62% are in poor or critical condition. This is an area on which we have to act, but of course it is the NCC that oversees the operation and maintenance of those buildings.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Mr. Chair, with regard to Ukraine, I wonder if the minister can tell us how much of what they have procured, everything that has been accumulated and sent overseas, has actually reached Ukrainian land. Is it stuck in Poland? Is it in Crete? What is the percentage? How much?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Chair, that is a question for DND.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Chair, tonight I am very proud to be part of this extraordinarily fast-paced exercise, which is also very informative for all Canadians. It is wonderful. Democracy is winning tonight.

I am speaking to my colleagues from my constituency office, with good reason. I have the great privilege of representing the community of Wendake, which is part of my riding. That is why my colleagues will see the Canadian flag, the provincial flag and the flag of Wendake behind me. I am very proud to represent the Wendake First Nation and to defend their interests and concerns as best I can. However, there is one concern in particular that I just could not wrap my head around when someone from Wendake brought the situation to my attention.

Wendake is located in the middle of my riding and is therefore surrounded by several of Quebec City's suburban neighbourhoods. About 50,000 people live within a three-kilometre radius of Wendake. In short, Wendake is in an urban environment. Oddly enough, according to the postal code established by Canada Post, Wendake is not in an urban area, but rather in a remote region that is isolated and far from any major cities. That is all false, but unfortunately what I am saying is true. The postal code corresponds to a remote region, whereas Wendake is really embedded in a city. This situation has gone on for too long. We have already discussed this issue in the House and in committee. I will have the opportunity to come back to it.

I would like the minister responsible for Canada Post to tell us what she thinks of this situation, which is totally unfair and unacceptable to the Wendake First Nation.

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for the question.

First, I want to take the opportunity to thank Canada Post. During the pandemic, postal employees have worked tirelessly. I know that Canada Post wanted to keep its workers safe, but postal workers, in turn, wanted to keep Canadians safe, so they exercised measures and delivered life-saving medicines and important mail. I want to thank all postal workers for their excellent service.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the member's question. In order to provide timely and consistent service to all Canadians, the cost of mailing items varies depending on the size of the parcel, the distance between origin and destination and the cost of transportation, processing and delivery. Of course, all these decisions are made by Canada Post.

With respect to the issue he is raising, at the root of this issue is that urban cities continue to grow and include rural communities, and this creates a challenge. We are working with Canada Post on the designation of rural versus urban communities. Canada Post works hard to ensure that its prices remain competitive while providing a wide range of services. This has to do with the designation of rural. Time has passed, and communities that previously may have looked rural look different now, so we are working with Canada Post on this.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the minister for her answer. I can see that she has worked on this file over the past few days, which is a good thing. That said, we are not seeing results.

Right now, it costs 30% more to send something from Wendake than to send it from my home in Loretteville, even though I live less than a kilometre from Wendake. That is totally unfair, unacceptable and wrong, especially for a government that prides itself and boasts about its lofty principles with respect to the first nations.

Three weeks ago, on April 29, during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, when she was answering a question from my colleague from Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, the minister said that they were aware of the situation and were looking into it.

They need to do more than just look into it. This situation needs to be fixed. When does the minister plan to fix this situation, which is completely unfair to the Wendat people?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Chair, what I would say in response to this, just to give a little more background and information as to where we are, is this is about the location. There are communities across the country that are in similar situations. Since the implementation of the rural moratorium in 1994, Canada's rate of urbanization has progressed every year. Many of the locations that were deemed to be rural at the time of the moratorium have since become urbanized. That is what is at the root of this issue.

In order for Wendake to be classified as an urban community, the rural moratorium would need to be amended to represent current demographics. I am in discussions, as I have said, with Canada Post on this. It is not an easy fix. it is more complicated than one might first think. It has to deal with the change in the nature of the rural communities and how they are urbanized.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Chair, soon I will have been living in Loretteville for 58 years. I am turning 58 soon. I know the area like the back of my hand. I have had close, personal friends there from childhood, and I can say one thing: Wendake did not become urban overnight. Wendake has always been embedded in an urban area.

In 2022, Canada Post is unable to recognize that Wendake is in an urban area. This penalizes the Wendat by forcing them to pay a 30% surcharge to ship goods through Canada Post. This also has an impact on the price of insurance, because insurance is based on postal codes. The consequences are significant.

It is not true that Wendake has suddenly become urban. Wendake has always been surrounded by Quebec City neighbourhoods.

We are calling on the minister to act immediately. With the stroke of a pen, this situation could be resolved.

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am already acting. I have taken this under advisement. The team has reached out to Canada Post to have a discussion about this very issue.

I respect what the member is saying, but there are other issues related to this. It is not an indigenous issue: it is a rural area that becomes urbanized. I appreciate his comments that it never was rural, but it was designated rural by Canada Post. We are looking into this. We will continue to work with the member. I appreciate his concern and his bringing this to my attention.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Chair, I would be pleased to welcome the minister to Wendake once the situation is resolved.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Mr. Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Kitchener Centre.

It is a pleasure to stand before this committee to speak about the vast and integral work that Shared Services Canada, or SSC, does on behalf of Canadians and how it is keeping the private information of Canadians safe and secure in an increasingly hostile digital world.

SSC plays a vital role in supporting government operations. As a common service provider, SSC works to support the whole of the federal government as it delivers digital programs and services that meet the needs of Canadians. SSC continues to invest in technology and expertise that support an enterprise approach to its IT services and support by enabling federal government departments and agencies to shift toward the use of common IT systems.

This approach is not only more efficient than individual departments working independently of one another when it comes to their IT, but also safer. An enterprise approach helps the government reduce duplicated costs, achieve faster turnarounds and enhance cross-departmental collaboration when addressing problems. It provides more secure and reliable services and reduces risk. Ultimately, it helps us serve Canadians better.

SSC is working on several fronts to make smart, future-looking investments in the interest of better serving Canadians. This modern, adaptable digital approach is working to fully support the needs of Canadians. Through its data centres, networks and cloud service providers, SSC operates an infrastructure that powers the thousands of applications required for government operations that enable the delivery of essential digital services to Canadians.

Over the course of the worldwide COVID pandemic, the Government of Canada has continued to serve Canadians. Much of that work was a result of SSC being able to keep the lights on during those dark and uncertain days. Throughout the pandemic, SSC adapted to our collective new realities by launching new online collaboration tools for thousands of public servants working from home.

At the same time, SSC bolstered online portals vital to communicating with Canadians about programs and supports available to them and their families. This was no small achievement. To facilitate virtual work, SSC quickly performed major upgrades to the enterprise network, government-wide Internet and network security, the result being a modern, mobile workforce at the service of Canadians wherever they may be.

Recognizing the increased global attention that hybrid working models are now receiving, SSC is continuing to work to implement the technology and network upgrades necessary to enable the effective communication and collaborative tools for employees who will return to their workplace. This kind of digital government needs a high-performing and resilient enterprise network. Shared Services Canada is responsible for providing network infrastructure and services to almost half a million users across government departments and agencies to effectively deliver services to Canadians.

In an increasingly uncertain and hostile digital world, cybersecurity has become more important than ever, providing Canadians access to more and more programs and services online while simultaneously meeting the security and privacy expectations of the public.

The national cybersecurity strategy announced in 2018 is working to keep Canadians safe from evolving cybersecurity threats that target Canadians, Canadian businesses and our critical infrastructure. I am pleased to note that budget 2022 proposes to provide $875.2 million over five years and $238.2 million thereafter for those necessary measures to nimbly address the rapidly evolving cyber-threat landscape. This includes $178.7 million over five years allocated to SSC and CSE.

As the Government of Canada becomes increasingly digital with public servants working both from home and at work sites, and with more and more services being delivered online to Canadians, cybersecurity becomes more and more of a concern. With remote working having become integral to our operation, the rising dependence of citizens, businesses, industries and governments on everything digital is only going to continue. We need a system that constantly monitors activity, verifies users and limits access within a system. Cybersecurity is and needs to be a priority of our government. Our public servants need to be provided with modern tools, up-to-date government IT systems and digital services delivered to Canadians that are secure, reliable and easy to use at any time from any device.

Would the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, as the minister responsible for Shared Services Canada, please explain how Shared Services Canada is protecting our digital information?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Chair, the member shared such important information, and I thank him for outlining the commitments that we have made in the budget.

Shared Services Canada is doing fantastic work. Cybersecurity is extremely important. We are making the investments we need to keep the system safe. I want to thank all the workers for their great work, particularly during this very challenging time.

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I would like to start by recognizing that the minister has been answering questions for many hours now. I respect her, and I appreciate her contributions this evening.

I would like to ask about the greening government strategy, which the minister spoke about earlier. A signature commitment of this strategy is net-zero emissions by 2050. Does the minister realize that net-zero emissions by 2050 is not equivalent to our Paris commitment to limit global temperature increase to no more than 1.5°C?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the hon. member for acknowledging my stamina this evening, but I am also surrounded by an amazing team, so I have great gratitude for all those who are here and, as I said previously, spread out all over in order to assist me this evening. For the work of my team, I am just so grateful.

In the answers that I did give previously, I actually stated that, with the initiatives we are undertaking, we would be achieving reductions of 82% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, and we are in a very good position to achieve net zero by 2030 for our building portfolio.

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I would encourage the minister to look at the science behind the climate crisis and ensure that our government's targets align with that science. This strategy was initiated in 2017 to help the federal government reduce its environmental impact and transition to low-carbon climate-resilient operations. One year later, though, in 2018, the federal government then purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.5 billion. Does the government include the Trans Mountain pipeline it purchased in this strategy?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Chair, with respect to PSPC, I can talk about initiatives that we are undertaking. In addition to the figures I gave on what we have done in our strategies with reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, we are also undertaking other efforts, which include procurement practices that prioritize reusable and recyclable products and our goal of net-zero plastic waste. We are going to continue also to work with our colleagues to introduce a new buy clean strategy and support and prioritize made-in-Canada, low-carbon products.

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate that. The fact is, though, that we bought a pipeline. Why is TMX not part of our procurement approach?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am here this evening to talk about the procurement file and on the procurement file, I say there are a number of initiatives. I have gone over those initiatives. We absolutely appreciate the crisis that we are in, and we have aggressive measures that we are taking in order to meet our commitments. We are going to continue on that path.

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate those commitments. The UN Secretary-General has made clear that new fossil fuel infrastructure at this point in the climate emergency is moral and economic madness, yet the Government of Canada now estimates that the Trans Mountain pipeline and the expansion will cost $21.4 billion, including the completion of the expansion of the pipeline.

Meanwhile, the minister's mandate letter includes “a new Buy Clean Strategy to support and prioritize the use of made-in-Canada low-carbon products in Canadian infrastructure projects.”

How does the $21.4 billion spent buying and expanding this pipeline fit into this “buy clean” strategy?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Chair, again, I have spoken about that this evening and have gone over a number of times the efforts we are making in procurement with respect to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring that we are minimizing plastic and waste.

One of the other things I would like to add is electric vehicles. We know there is the ability for us to act there too, and we are. In the past three years, we have procured 1,187 zero-emission and hybrid vehicles, another area where we can show leadership and do our part with respect to meeting targets.