Debates of May 19th, 2022

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

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

Madam Chair, that is a very important question. I can say that we have been working with Moderna, Pfizer and other providers of vaccines from the beginning. I would just remind the member that when the pediatrics were approved, I was very happy to receive the first planeload in Hamilton, at the John C. Munro international airport. We had, within one week of the approval date, enough vaccines to vaccinate every child aged 5 to 11.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, given the ongoing issues with the Phoenix pay system, why did the budget not allocate necessary funding to help deal with the now years-long backlog of pay problems for federal public servants?

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

Madam Chair, what I would say about this is that it is a top priority. We have been working on this from the very beginning of inheriting this problem. We are going to continue to work to put supports in place to reduce the backlog and to provide satisfaction to public servants, but we believe that every public servant should be paid accurately and should be paid on time.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, the government is increasing spending on expensive consultants to fix the problems of expensive consultants, while public servants are being offered wage increases that do not even keep up with inflation.

Does the minister believe hard-working public servants who have delivered for Canadians throughout the pandemic deserve wage increases that account for the rising cost of living?

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

Madam Chair, I believe every worker in this country should be paid a fair wage. Workers are working hard across the country. Of course, we want them to be paid fairly for the work that they are doing. There are different systems in place in terms of how payment is made, but I absolutely appreciate the work of public servants and think they should be paid fairly.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, does she believe they should be able to be paid and given wage increases to meet inflation and the new cost of living?

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

Madam Chair, I am a big believer in negotiations and I think that any disputes with respect to that should be settled at the bargaining table. It is the best solution.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, is the minister committed to reigning in outsourcing to ensure Canadians are getting value for services and that we maintain institutional knowledge, skills and expertise in the public service?

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

Madam Chair, whenever we can use in-service, we do. We cannot say we want Phoenix fixed tomorrow even though we do not have the skills and the expertise inside to fix it, and then say that we cannot go out. We go out when we need to go out, because we need the expertise.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, the announcement of a strategic review of the public service and potential cuts of up to $6 billion has prompted concern from hard-working public servants and Canadians who rely on public services. The last time a strategic review happened, the Harper government cut service delivery for veterans, people on EI and many others, while going after 19,000 public service jobs. The lack of details about this review is concerning.

Can the minister reassure Canadians that this review will not impact service levels, and that the federal public service unions will be consulted throughout the process?

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

Madam Chair, the treasury board president is leading this process, and I believe the determination has not been made yet.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, I would like to ask the minister whether the federal contractors program requires organizations bidding on federal contracts to enter into an agreement to implement employment equity? Is this policy being followed?

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

Madam Chair, I am really happy about the measures that we have undertaken as a government in terms of establishing employment equity. There is a task force that is looking at this—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, is disaggregated data being collected, and have contracts been awarded to organizations that fail to meet their obligations on employment equity?

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

Madam Chair, I think that question is more appropriate for the Minister of Labour, but what I will say is that we are taking measures in order to ensure that there is equity in work and that pay is—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, as part of the strategic policy review, will her department be looking at the feasibility of permanently converting unneeded office space into affordable housing?

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

Madam Chair, with respect to office space, we are absolutely reviewing the space that we need, and we look forward to moving forward with ideas for that space.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, what is the timeline for the completion of the accessible government built environment initiative?

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

Madam Chair, I do not have that answer off the top of my head, but I am happy to have my team get that information for the member.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, how much funding has she dedicated to this project?

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

Madam Chair, it is the same response.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, it was recently reported that the Royal Canadian Air Force is relocating two aircraft from Winnipeg to Vancouver Island to address a gap in search and rescue coverage created by procurement delays. The three-year delay in this case will put a strain on other air force operations.

Does the minister believe that defence procurement should be moved to a single minister to increase accountability when things like this are happening?

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

Madam Chair, I have answered this question previously. I think that defence procurement has a strong record. We are going to continue to procure as best we possibly can, recognizing what is required, and I think our defence procurement is strong.