Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. In particular, in relation to under-represented groups, again, we have various supports. My colleague Clinton, who's at the table, can speak more on Procurement Assistance Canada supports available to those that do not have the same experience or success in our procurement processes.

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much for the question. It's important again to highlight the extensive engagement that we have undertaken with the under-represented communities and the many issues that they have flagged to us in terms of the barriers to access to procurement opportunities, so our focus is very much on ensuring that we do remove those barriers and encourage the participation of under-represented groups in the procurement processes.

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for the question. First, can I just apologize for not being there in person with my colleagues? Unfortunately, I'm recovering from a cold, so an in-person attendance wasn't possible today. In terms of the question, I very much appreciate the concerns that have been raised.

Government Operations committee  I'm afraid that, as the associate assistant deputy minister for procurement, I'm not responsible for the office portfolio. My colleague, the chief information officer, is not either, so we're not in a position to answer that question. It would have to be other colleagues of ours from within the portfolio.

Government Operations committee  I can certainly take the question and come back with a response for the committee, yes.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, thank you for the question. I think in these instances it would be the individual departments that are responsible for establishing the requirements that PSPC conducts the procurement processes for. Certainly, they are responsible for ensuring that they have a business requirement, and they make a business decision around critical services for delivery of programs to Canadians.

Government Operations committee  Thanks, Mr. Chair, for the question. PSPC, of course, does have the Translation Bureau as part of the departmental portfolio, but I'm afraid that we're not able to speak to those specific details today. We would be happy to submit that information in writing to the committee.

Government Operations committee  I would simply add to what Emilio has said that we're responsible for working with our client departments. We would be the contracting authority, and our client departments, of course, would be the technical authority, so we would work together to ensure the performance monitoring and the appropriate contractual activities as allowed by the polices, as Emilio has indicated.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. Again, as we have indicated, this is an area that would be in each individual department's accountabilities and responsibilities under the appropriate legislation, as well as the various oversight bodies. I know we've previously spoken to the role played by the Treasury Board, as well as the Auditor General and our own individual responsibilities as public servants for ensuring value for money for Canadians.

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much for the question, Mr. Chair. I believe that my colleague outlined earlier in the session a little bit about the procurement policies we have in place and how we seek to ensure that the government's broader socio-economic objectives are included in our procurements.

Government Operations committee  Thanks for the question. There was reference made to a specific contract requirement that PSPC manages. The particular one in question is one we manage on behalf of a client department, which is National Defence. It relates to the relocation services associated with specific requirements for the Canadian Armed Forces.

Government Operations committee  Potentially. I'm afraid that without the information in front of me—

Government Operations committee  That is one of the larger requirements we manage with that particular supplier.

Government Operations committee  I can't speak to the specifics. I can say that we turn to these consultants to provide us with mission-critical services that are provided to the government and to our specific client departments. If there's a more specific question, I could offer to come back with information.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. While I'm not a representative of our human resources branch, I can speak to the fact that in our hiring practices we do abide by our human resources policies, which are, of course, established by the chief human resources officer. We do have those policies in place that govern the way we hire employees as well as their employee benefits.