Judy Foote

[Public Services and Procurement, November 30th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we made a decision that was in the best interest of our men and women in uniform to get them the equipment they needed to cover off a capability gap. We are in the process now of working with Boeing and the U.S. government to determine the best way forward. We will have an interim fleet to take care of our men and women in uniform.

I am not going to stand here and prejudge what the value of the contract will be. We are going to negotiate. We have an idea of what that cost will be, but it would be foolhardy for me to stand here and discuss it with the member and with anyone else before doing so with the U.S. government and Boeing.

[Public Services and Procurement, November 29th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we have committed, as we said we would do, to an open and transparent competition. We are looking to get the best plane we can get for the men and women in uniform. That is exactly what we are going to do. We are not going to prejudge the outcome of an open and transparent competition. We are going to work with all suppliers, and all aircraft that meet the requirements will be able to compete.

[National Defence, November 23rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, there is an obligation of government to make sure that the men and women have the equipment they need to do the job expected of them.

That is exactly what we are doing, because of the capability gap the former government did not take care of. We are taking care of that, so we can make sure they are not in harm's way, and that we can fulfill our obligations.

In the meantime, we are having an open and transparent competition, just like we committed to do. We are taking care of our men and women in uniform.

[National Defence, November 23rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, what I am very pleased about is our announcement yesterday for an open and transparent competition that will ensure that our men and women in uniform get the equipment they need to do the jobs expected of them.

We are going to make sure that we have a robust, transparent competition that will ensure that Canadians will get jobs from coast to coast to coast, as a result of our determination to do what is right for the men and women in our military.

[Public Services and Procurement, November 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we take the issues of public service pay problems very seriously. That is why we have taken so many additional measures to deal with these ongoing problems. In fact, the measures that we have put in place have resulted in our now being able to deal with an additional 100,000 cases a month. We have done that on top of making sure that 300,000 employees get paid every two weeks.

[Canada Post, November 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that Canada Post is a crown corporation. It makes decisions about where it buys its products.

We are working closely to make sure that Canadians get the services they need and deserve. That is what we are doing with the review of Canada Post, which we committed to do. I am looking forward to getting a report from both the task force and the parliamentary committee that is presently on the review.

[Public Services and Procurement, October 31st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, let me repeat how unacceptable it is for public service employees to go without pay for work performed.

We are now looking at the complex issues that remain. Seventy-five percent of the backlog cases have been addressed. We are putting a dedicated unit on to deal with the complex issues that remain. We are determined to get those resolved as quickly as possible.

Again, we are not at all happy that people are having to face hardships as a result of these pay issues. We are dedicated to finding a resolution to these outstanding pay issues.

[Public Services and Procurement, October 31st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, there is no one more concerned about the fact that we have employees who are not getting paid for work performed than this minister. That is why we have pulled out all the stops. That is why the Department of Public Services and Procurement has put in extra measures. We have hired 250 people. We have put in place four satellite offices. We are responding to the issues.

It is totally unacceptable for people to go without pay for work performed. We will continue to work hard to resolve these issues.

[Public Services and Procurement, October 31st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right. It is totally unacceptable for employees to go without pay for work performed. I have said that repeatedly.

We have put extra measures in place to hire an additional 250 employees to deal with these cases. We are throwing everything we have at this, because, again, we want to make sure that now the most complex cases get resolved. We have resolved three-quarters of those that were outstanding.

[Public Services and Procurement, October 31st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said repeatedly, for anyone to go without pay for work performed is completely unacceptable, especially when there are hardships involved. We are working very hard to make sure that all of the outstanding issues are resolved. We have resolved 75% of the outstanding cases.

We are going to put in a dedicated team to look at the complex issues that remain. Those that remain are much more complex, some going back three years, in terms of the length of time that these employees have been without pay for services performed. It is totally unacceptable, and we are throwing—