Government Operations committee  The National Capital Commission has funding for the ongoing maintenance of its capital assets. They got a one-time injection of $175 million over 10 years to address deferred maintenance for the entire suite of official residences, but they have not been funded to undertake large projects that were not part of their planned trajectory of work.

Government Operations committee  It would have to be budgeted for the NCC to undertake a significant program of work beyond the maintenance of the capital assets that they've been funded.

Government Operations committee  It would have to come from the federal budget. It would be a budget decision for the NCC.

Government Operations committee  Indeed. Thank you for that question. There are a number of categories of projects, I would say, within that capital envelope. A very large one is the government's office portfolio. It's close to seven million square metres of offices. We're doing an active review, in light of all the changes in the workplace, of our future needs for that space, but that space requires ongoing rejuvenation, renovation and replacement, so that's one big area.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. I should note that I can't speak on behalf of the National Capital Commission. They have the responsibility for the whole portfolio of official residences. They have commenced work on the abatement that is necessary. This work is necessary under any future scenario for the property dealing with hazardous situations, asbestos abatement, etc.

Government Operations committee  I would be happy to speak to it. A lot of the benefit from the national shipbuilding strategy flows to small and medium-sized enterprises. About $1.2 billion in small business contracts has been awarded. They have a distribution across the country: one company in Alberta; a number of companies in British Columbia, totalling $265 million; and $228 million in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Government Operations committee  The overall queue has approximately 400,000 transactions ready to be processed, but there are different categories of workload within that. There are 177,000 cases that are beyond our normal workload that would have a financial impact, so it's a subset of that overall queue of work.

Government Operations committee  I would note that we're committed to continuing to track in a consistent fashion for clarity how old definitions work, where we do the work, and to look at new ways of examining the business in more detail. It's this idea of looking at workload beyond normal workload. There's a monthly intake that goes up and down from time to time, but the amount of intake that we're not processing that is beyond a normal workload is where we're trying to shift the focus to.

Government Operations committee  I'm not aware of correspondence in particular, but we have regular engagement sessions. Every four to six weeks we have a sit-down with labour leaders on the current state of pay administration. They're given updates on the NextGen project as well. That's what I would note in terms of engagement.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. As the minister was suggesting, this is the result of a three-year tranche of funding that expired at the end of the previous fiscal year. The budget 2023 announced new funding for pay administration. It's not yet in the main estimates. Consequently, it's that funding that is actually helping to expand the pay centre.

Government Operations committee  It will be the fall.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Minister. A contract has already been awarded to the Davie shipyard for ferry construction. There are two other ships for—

Government Operations committee  I'll ask Mr. Page to provide you with more details.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for that question, too. It's a good question, because we're actually changing a broader set of procurement instruments. At the same time, there was an announcement, a couple of months ago, I believe, on broader requirements for procurement. This fits into the requirement for all procurements above $4.5 million to require this attestation, based on recognized standards for tracking greenhouse gas emissions and having a plan in place towards net zero.

Public Accounts committee  On that one, too, I'm happy to report we have standardized contract language. A working group has been established, which is noted in the Auditor General's report. It was established over the course of the audit. We now have, essentially, a single window to work with departments and ensure we have standard language.