Government Operations committee  EI would kick in earlier than that, but again, there's still a cost to that.

Government Operations committee  It's a bridging tool to a certain extent, but it's not one that is widely utilized. When we surveyed other employers, we're basically one of the few left that doesn't have a short term disability regime.

Government Operations committee  With regard to the actual sick leave regime and the modernization of that, there have been no savings articulated for that yet. It's too early. It has to be negotiated. There also has to be consultation with industry. There are only two pieces here.

Government Operations committee  Well there are two pieces to that. The Public Works piece is all around consulting with industry, because if there is to be a request for proposals put on the street, as you mentioned, industry will be out there. There is work to be done there. The Treasury Board Secretariat is

Government Operations committee  Thank you. There are two key pieces here. Number one is that 11% of our employees have no banked sick leave whatsoever, so if they're sick they're unpaid. If you're dealing with a short term disability regime of some sort they will get some percentage of pay, so there's a benefi

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will start by talking about the link between estimates and budget, because as the member mentioned, this is a Finance-type question. When Finance does the budget, they are aware that there will be additional spending requirements beyond main estimates,

Government Operations committee  The Department of Finance does issue a debt management report on its website. There is a mix of long-term and short-term borrowing. If you looked in the public accounts, I believe the increasing trend is for borrowing domestically, but there is some foreign debt as well. Interest

Government Operations committee  That is still the trend. There is still some foreign debt. Maybe while we're answering other questions, I can actually dig that out for you and give you a response in a few seconds.

Government Operations committee  That's typically because the long-term interest rate is going down, so regardless of—

Government Operations committee  I'll say a couple of things on the sick leave issue. The statistics on sick leave usage, both paid and unpaid, have been on the Treasury Board Secretariat website, I believe, since May of last year. I'm sure members are aware that the Parliamentary Budget Officer recently did a r

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to be here to discuss the supplementary estimates (C) for 2013-2014. I am accompanied by a few colleagues, Darryl Sprecher, Marcia Santiago and also Christine Walker, who is the chief financial officer for the Treasury Board Secretariat, and G

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, I can't speak to how things will be announced, but if the money is reprofiled and is to be included in a future year's estimates, you will see it mentioned in here for sure, because we need Parliament's approval.

Government Operations committee  I'd say two things. One is the estimates are planned spending, and because you cannot exceed...it is an up-to amount—

Government Operations committee  If the question is whether departments are overly optimistic in terms of what they are hoping to spend, history would tell you that National Defence and Infrastructure Canada are some of larger lapsers year after year because they're in a more complicated business.

Government Operations committee  I think where there are reductions, Mr. Chair, you will not see the amounts coming back as being requested for spending again. They don't come back. When there are reductions, they're taken from the estimates and you will not see them again. You did mention financial reporting,