Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to present, in both official languages, a report entitled “The Expert Panel on Accountability Mechanisms for Gender Equality: Conclusions and Recommendations”.
Lost her last election, in 2006, with 34% of the vote.
Gender Equality November 25th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to present, in both official languages, a report entitled “The Expert Panel on Accountability Mechanisms for Gender Equality: Conclusions and Recommendations”.
Cultural Diversity November 25th, 2005
It is true that this was a historic week for culture. First of all, our government announced that it was doubling the budget of the Canada Council for the Arts, to $300 million. This is particularly good because of the Council's upcoming 50th anniversary in 2007. What is more, Canada has become the first country to ratify the Convention on Cultural Diversity, as promised.
We therefore have every reason to rejoice at these two announcements because this is, to quote the MAL, the Quebec movement for arts and letters, a stunning, total collective victory.
Aboriginal Affairs November 21st, 2005
Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member understood French, she would have understood that I said that $5 million has already been given to Sisters in Spirit. In addition, Status of Women Canada has a $7 million program to prevent violence against women. Some money from this program is used to address violence against women, including those in native communities.
There is therefore some $12 million for the entire violence prevention program. In addition, a federal-provincial conference is at risk because—
Canadian Heritage November 18th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, does the hon. member suggest I phone the president of the CRTC and tell him what to do?
Aboriginal Affairs November 18th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, as Minister of Canadian Heritage, I am pleased with our government announcement of the $5 million to the Native Women's Association for the response of Sisters in Spirit. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada also provides $70 million a year to the family violence prevention program for community based projects and operational funding for 30 shelters across Canada.
We were supposed to have a federal-provincial meeting to put all our needs together to answer this problem of violence against women but, of course, it is in January and those irresponsible people over there are probably bringing us to an election.
Aboriginal Affairs November 17th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, first, I want to point out that $5 million has been allocated to the Sisters in Spirit program to prevent violence. This is in addition to the $7 million that Status of Women Canada also invested in this program.
A federal-provincial meeting on violence against women, including native women, is scheduled for January. However, if we are in the midst of an election campaign, brought on by the opposition, we will not be able to hold this meeting.
Who then will address the issue of violence against women?
Question No. 205 November 4th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the reply is as follows:
a) The government will fund the Sisters in Spirit initiative to an amount of $5 million over 5 years. As with any funding, there is always a rigourous process to follow to ensure accountability to the public.
b) Status of Women is finalizing a contribution agreement with the Native Women's Association of Canada. Once finalized, the funding will be released in compliance with the Contribution Agreement clauses.
c) The government is committed to delivering the funding in phases and will continue to work collaboratively with the Native Women's Association of Canada to implement the Sisters in Spirit initiative.
Question No. 190 November 4th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the reply is as follows:
a) Since 2001, a national area of selection has been required for all senior officer level jobs in external recruitment. The commission has encouraged departments to use a national area of selection, whenever appropriate, for jobs in external recruitment. The commission reviewed its policy and on October 6, 2005 outlined its decision to take an incremental approach in establishing national area of selection in external recruitment.
b) The commission has decided to extend the policy requirement to use a national area of selection for all officer-level jobs in external recruitment within the National Capital Region, effective April 1, 2006. The commission will then take an incremental approach to national areas of selection. Following assessments, April 2007 is targeted for establishing national area of selection in external recruitment for all officer level job across Canada.
c) The overall goal is by December 2007, subject to the results of an impact assessment and to the availability of continued funding, to establish a national area of selection for all external advertised appointment processes for all positions across Canada.
d) In 2004-2005, about 19% of jobs open to the public have used a national area of selection, approximately 2300 jobs. For the same period, about 28% of National Capital Region jobs open to the public used a national area of selection, approximately 1300 jobs. Beginning April 1, 2006, the policy change announced on October 6, 2005 would roughly double the overall use across Canada of a national area of selection for positions open to the public—an increase from 19% to about 32%, from 2300 to approximately 3800 jobs. Regarding only the positions open to the public in the National Capital Region, the use of a national area of selection would double—an increase from 28% to about 60%(from 1300 to approximately 2900 jobs).
e) Geographic areas of selection, allowed under the current and new Public Service Employment Act, PSEA, are used to manage large volumes of applications to public service jobs open to the public. The intent is to ensure that staffing actions are in keeping with staffing values in finding qualified candidates while upholding the public trust in the wise use of public funds. The PSC’s announcement to further expand the use of national area of selection was made possible by the flexibility derived from the new PSEA and the result of the PSC’s investments to date on technological tools, with funding support from the Treasury Board, to deal with the expected increase in the volume of applications
f) Between April 1, 2001 and March 31, 2005, the PSC spent $16.5M on national area of selection. This figure includes the development of a web-based tool, public service resourcing system, the employee benefit program, research and evaluation of technological alternatives, hardware and software for operation, training of staff and system users, and evaluation of the system pilot. From April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006, the PSC expects to spend $8.4M including maintenance on national area of selection.
g) The PSC estimates that the future expenditures required to create and maintain the national area of selection will be $13.4M. The total multi-year estimated cost to create national area of selection is therefore $38.3M. This figure includes the cost of the employee benefit plan, enhancement of the tool to address the broader range of external staffing needs, training of departmental officials, impact assessments, and evalution. Ongoing public service resourcing system maintenance costs are estimated at $5.5M per year, starting in 2007-2008.
h) The public service staffing modernization project, PSSMP, is a multi-year effort which contributes to providing Canadians, public servants and public service managers with a federal government that is a leader in staffing by providing a world-class automated tool to support a modern staffing approach. The PSSMP is divided into two streams. In the first stream, the PSC will expand the current automated screening tool, the public service resourcing system, to all PSC regions for use by departments for external staffing by the end of November 2005, and then directly to interested departments and agencies beginning in April 2006. As part of the expansion plan, PSC regions and departments will receive training on the use of the tool. The second stream of PSSMP looks at developing a long-term solution focussed on both external and internal staffing. This second stream has not yet been fully costed. Related policies and guidelines for the government-wide use of e-recruitment software will be developed in consultation with stakeholders.
Government Spending November 4th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the installation of a Governor General is the most important state ceremony in Canada's constitutional and ceremonial structure.
If the Conservatives want to abolish the constitutional monarchy to save money, to abolish governors general and lieutenant governors, they should say so and explain it to western Canadians.
Canadian Heritage November 2nd, 2005
Mr. Speaker, I have said it once and I will say it again. The copyright bill that is presented does not touch education. It is status quo in education. We have had a consultation paper for education presented at the same time as the copyright bill, but in the copyright bill there is actually no question of education and there will be no question of education.