Government Operations committee  The fundamental role and mission of the Privy Council Office will remain the same. There are three parts we identify. First is the support to the Prime Minister and the ministers of the portfolio, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and the Minister for Democratic Institutions in this case.

Government Operations committee  I'm just checking my notes to see when the contract was awarded. The contract was awarded in September 2016.

Government Operations committee  Right. PCO has about a thousand employees altogether, so there's a fair amount of movement in any particular year, and it will adjust to some of the pressures up and down. I would suspect in this case—and I'd be happy to check to be very clear about it—we would have allocated some resources and maybe hired a couple of extra people who would have been devoted to this activity.

Government Operations committee  I would add that what has been spent this fiscal year is what was projected to be spent this fiscal year on the exercise.

Government Operations committee  It's not over or under budget. It's pretty well on budget.

Government Operations committee  It did not necessarily include all the modalities, but essentially a budget had been set to reach out to Canadians, and those were ultimately the amounts that were expended on it.

Government Operations committee  Sometimes, Mr. Chair, the unfortunate part of our business is that we introduce new terms, but for things that members would readily recognize. Essentially it's when you go, for example, through a security gate that's automatic with a pass that you can flash so the gates open and you can come in.

Government Operations committee  Yes. I was going to say, on this exercise on electoral reform and reaching out to Canadians, that's it but there is continuing democratic reform, of course, under the Minister of Democratic Institutions and we will be supporting her. There were some monies in the supplementary estimates (B) that will likely be ongoing, about $1 million per year, seven and a half person-years, bolstering the capacity of the Privy Council Office to support the Minister of Democratic Institutions in her ongoing mandate.

Government Operations committee  As I indicated earlier, I don't have the exact percentage increase, but as reported in the media, there is a substantial increase between the main estimates for 2017-18 and 2016-17. That is because, quite clearly, the Privy Council Office has been asked by this Prime Minister and this government to take on additional functions that, in part, go to additional roles that the Prime Minister himself has decided to take on, for example, as Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs and Youth.

Government Operations committee  For some it was, but for, say, part-time positions to be a member of a board of a corporation, the responsible minister could simply submit the names of candidates and they would then be vetted by the federal cabinet. Now everything is done through an open, competitive, and merit-based system.

Government Operations committee  That has not required additional resources in the Privy Council Office. This is the work that all the different departments have to do. As they bring forward proposals, be they memoranda to cabinet or Treasury Board submissions, all of the proposals being brought to cabinet must include a gender-based analysis to determine whether the policy will fairly or appropriately affect gender and other characteristics of the population.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, these are one-time expenses that went basically to consulting Canadians over the course of the year about democratic reform. I mentioned the general consultations which were held throughout the country, 17 in all. The same thing applies to the online consultation tool and the work to inform Canadians about it.

Government Operations committee  The Privy Council Office has no budget to undertake such expenditures in an ad hoc way, and so it is a decision of the government to grant an additional amount to the PCO. Of course this must then be approved by committees and by Parliament.

Government Operations committee  The government makes the decision to conduct these activities. Afterwards, PCO must inform the government that it does not have the necessary amounts to fund these expenses, and afterwards steps are taken to go and get the necessary funding.

Government Operations committee  As I mentioned, the Privy Council Office spent $400,000 to support various expenditures related to the general consultations. In addition, we paid $369,000 for all the work related to the online tool, which includes the report. We also spent $1.9 million to invite Canadians to take part in this exercise by sending an invitation to their homes in Canada.