Government Operations committee  I can tell you the interest expense for 2012-13 is about $29 billion, so that's just interest on debt in total. I have it in my head—if you give me two minutes I can probably find the number, I think I have Public Accounts here with me. If you have another question you want to ask while I bring this up, go for it.

Government Operations committee  That's more a question for the Department of Finance. They do have a target. My recollection is that we're at 33% to 34% debt to GDP, but you probably have more up-to-date information than I do. I know Finance has a lower target. If you compared the federal government to other countries, we'd be doing quite well.

Government Operations committee  The budget is the most normal way that you'll see funding. The budget is once a year. So if you've got cabinet approval of something and there is a need to spend in the current year and you've missed the budget, is there a way around that? Yes there is. Departments can make a case to the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister to get effectively an off-budget cycle funding approval.

Government Operations committee  It's for the current year. The advertising is a horizontal item because there are multiple departments that do advertising. Veterans Affairs is the only department with money for advertising in these estimates. You are quite correct, it is a specialized event in that it is to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.

Government Operations committee  I don't recall if that was a budget item or not. My colleagues may.

Government Operations committee  In this case specifically there are two answers. One is advertising, so you will see or hear something. That's a very easy answer. But more importantly Public Works and Government Services Canada does produce an annual report on advertising and you will actually see the contracts let.

Government Operations committee  I would say a couple of things. The first is that there is a Treasury Board policy. It's called MRRS, but for today's purposes it's around performance reporting. It requires each department to outline the performance objectives and how they will measure those for each program they have.

Government Operations committee  This is one of the final stops of the train, the parliamentary approval of spending plans or an appropriation act. Before it gets here, there needs to be a case made in the budget: someone has to convince the Minister of Finance and other cabinet ministers that a program is worth pursuing.

Government Operations committee  I don't know.

Government Operations committee  Yes, I can, Mr. Chair. The two provinces were New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, I believe. And the Yukon was the territory I was referring to.

Government Operations committee  I'm going to take a small break and hopefully turn to my colleague to answer that question.

Government Operations committee  The projections that Finance uses are longer-term in nature, and yes, they're aware of the demographics of our population. From time to time, there are also increases in the amounts, and those would be factored in.

Government Operations committee  That was more by way of advice to ourselves. If there's one thing we could do better, it's asking questions. Supplementary estimates (C) are typically very small. The reason for that is that they come late in the year. We need to do a really thorough job of challenging and making sure that the money can be spent in the fiscal year for which they need it.

Government Operations committee  We have the mechanism; it's okay.

Government Operations committee  There are other countries doing this. I know that the “one for one” rule was implemented in some provinces. I'm going from memory here; it may have been in British Columbia. They have contemplated similar things in the U.K. as well. The red tape commission work itself was very much done, at least as a starting point, by consulting with other jurisdictions, because Canada is not the only country facing this issue.