Public Accounts committee  It's in Lévis, Quebec.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for that question. We have the three strategic partners, which are the large yards. We have a very active program of work with other shipyards for smaller vessels, for repair and refit work, including Heddle Marine and numerous other companies like it across Canada. We have smaller yards, and then many small and medium-sized enterprises play a role in the supply chain as part of the project plans.

Public Accounts committee  I will turn to Simon on that one.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. Unfortunately, PSPC is not involved in that project either. That's a question to be directed the Department of National Defence.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. As I have already mentioned, we are working on many fronts to speed up the work on the ships. We have contracts in place now for engineering and design for the Arctic and offshore patrol ships, so those are contracted and on a revised schedule. We see each of these ships being produced at a diminishing unit cost and with less time.

Public Accounts committee  On the infrastructure side, this isn't an area of significant activity for PSPC. Our main focus is on the vessels—supporting the Coast Guard in the acquisition and construction of the Arctic offshore patrol ships 7 and 8 and working on the vessel life extension of the existing fleets.

Public Accounts committee  I'll take that. Thank you, Mr. Chair. PSPC, of course, is the contracting agent for activities like the maintenance and sustaining of the Aurora. DND would be better positioned to speak about the long-term plans for it, but we do have some measures in place. Simon could elaborate on the work they're doing in support.

Public Accounts committee  There's ongoing work, as well.

Public Accounts committee  I can speak to that. We're in the options, analysis and requirements definition phase, and the P-8 is an active option that's under consideration, as ministers have noted.

Public Accounts committee  I don't know if we have a potential timeline. That's all part of the options analysis. I think it's hard to say at this point exactly what the relative timelines would be for the P-8 versus for other options.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. As my colleague noted, Public Services and Procurement Canada also welcomes the Auditor General's report and is committed to working with its partners to ensure that Canada's Arctic waters are safe and secure. We are in full agreement with the Office of the Auditor General that such equipment must be acquired in a timely manner.

Government Operations committee  That's a very accurate description of the work.

Government Operations committee  As I mentioned, when we're undertaking a business transformation, whether it's PSPC or another department, the Treasury Board policy on project management encourages independent reviews and perspectives. Benchmarking is one tool that brings credibility and precision to a business transformation plan.

Government Operations committee  We would have good information on our own operations, but we wouldn't have the basis to compare it with peer organizations. If we were comparing the pay centre to private sector or public sector pay operations, or if we're comparing our pension operation to pension plans, etc., what these companies do is bring in an analytical framework for doing just that.

Government Operations committee  Typically the benchmarking reports that I've seen have anonymized data. The data will refer to “an insurance company” or “a comparable country”. Occasionally when there is publicly sourced information as part of the benchmarking, there will be a more clearly identified company, but a lot of the information gathered is proprietary and commercially confidential.