Government Operations committee  We're not really questioning the elements that are in the budget that are stimulus and that are to be accelerated, whether it's to provide a nuclear advantage for Canada and improve the competitiveness of the industry or for other reasons. I'm not really able to debate the policy here.

Government Operations committee  Sure. Brian.

Government Operations committee  CIDA is seeking $140 million in new funding to support a number of development commitments this year, $70 million of which is to respond to increasing global food aid requirements, consistent with Canada's commitment to a food aid convention. There is also support for the Government of Canada's engagement in the Americas.

Government Operations committee  Right. It's a bridge funding mechanism; there's no new money here. The budget established, essentially, the envelope funds. This mechanism allows us to bridge-fund to supplementary estimates and thereby avoid any unnatural breakages that would not allow us to implement some of these programs.

Government Operations committee  The way this program works is through contributions by NRC IRAP for research and development in small and medium-size enterprises. So these are firms of up to 500 employees. Essentially the contributions are provided to them so they can hire graduates holding advanced or specialized degrees to work on technology development projects.

Government Operations committee  Perhaps I can start with the first one, the Canadian Television Fund, and my colleague Brian Pagan can help me with this as well. The Canadian Television Fund is a private-public partnership that provides support for the production of high-quality, distinctively Canadian television programs.

Government Operations committee  It's also intended for individuals. It's just that it's indirect. If the banks were blocked in lending and didn't want to take on additional mortgages, that would be a big problem for ordinary Canadians who were trying to get mortgages. So this takes some of those mortgages off the books of the banks, and indeed it's been a relatively successful initiative as part of the extraordinary financing framework.

Government Operations committee  They can't do it that directly. The funding here is provided for buying back, if you wish, bundles of mortgage-backed securities, which allows the banks to then lend more money at lower rates to Canadians. And therefore, through that, indirectly it would reduce borrowing costs for Canadians.

Government Operations committee  What I know so far is that funds are flowing through this program, and that they are hiring graduate students--assistants--for the program. So things are under way. I don't know to what extent that's occurring. We are gathering that information now from departments and agencies, but I believe that one is under way.

Government Operations committee  Certainly there's funding under Public Works to repair a number of bridges, at least four federal bridges, including two in this area: the Burlington Canal Lift Bridge and a fourth bridge. I know that there's also funding here under Transport for the Champlain Bridge, which is Canada's largest and busiest bridge, in Montreal.

Government Operations committee  No, that I don't know for sure without reading that chapter of her report to see whether all of the recommendations would be met with these investments. Clearly, they're meeting some of the needs that she identified in her report.

Government Operations committee  I don't think there's anything that's really out of the norm. Due diligence has been applied to these allocations to the TB vote 35 in the same way as applied to the supplementary estimates (A) allocations. We have very good assistance from departments in ensuring that the costs they provide us are bona fide.

Government Operations committee  It is $1.8 billion.

Government Operations committee  There are several questions there, and I'll try to address them all. Virtually all the funding here has been allocated to departments, so what was allocated in the central vote is now with departments. How much is spent, of course, depends on the program or initiative. There is work under way on many of these initiatives, and indeed, funding is flowing.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you once again for the invitation to attend. With me is my colleague Brian Pagan, who is Executive Director, Expenditure Operations and Estimates. Today, the President of the Treasury Board tabled Supplementary Estimates (A) for 2009-10. This is only the second year in the last decade that the government has filed supplementary estimates in the spring.