Government Operations committee  Yes. Yes, I can. It has nothing to do with Royal LePage. It was, if I recall correctly, the White case. We knew what the amount was in supplementary estimates (A) but it hadn't been quite ratified by the courts yet. That has now been done and it relates to the White case. That matter is now wrapped up.

Government Operations committee  There are many items before the courts. Actually, a very popular thing to do is to sue the government. Am I aware of any, at this moment, that will be coming back to you in supplementary estimates (C)? No, I'm not. That being said, there are many lawsuits in play. One thing I would maybe highlight for the member is that in volume III of the Public Accounts they actually publish claims against the crown.

Government Operations committee  The organization is now part of our supplementary estimates (B). In terms of is the organization actually up and running and providing these services yet, I'm not certain.

Government Operations committee  It's normal if we have to change the vote wording of something or add a new vote, things like that, but there's no actual money required. We can't put zero dollars. It's in the rules of the estimates that to basically make it into the appropriation act, we need a one dollar amount.

Government Operations committee  It's related to both long-term and short-term interest rates, but it's largely that long-term interest rates are staying low. You may recall that when the Department of Finance puts together its budget, it bases its interest rate forecasts on a survey of private sector economists.

Government Operations committee  This is an interesting question. I assume that you are talking about the Department of National Defence, correct? Transfers between votes have to be approved by Parliament. This transfer actually relates back to an Auditor General recommendation from about two or three years ago.

Government Operations committee  I can give you something. That is the amount we're decreasing the forecast by. The actual interest charge on public debt, from the public accounts in 2013-14, was $28.2 billion in total. That's the total amount of actual expenditure in 2013-14. This change in supplementary estimates (B) for the Department of Finance is indicating that they're decreasing their forecast by $329.7 million, and I'm hoping my friend Marcia has the total for us.

Government Operations committee  It's $26 billion forecast, versus last year's $28.2 billion.

Government Operations committee  Again, this is a decrease. We're actually forecasting that no money will be transferred to the provinces. Initially, Finance was forecasting that $80 million would be transferred under the agreement. Based on the forecast price of lumber, we're now forecasting a decrease of $80 million, which brings us to zero.

Government Operations committee  If it drops below $355 U.S., then there's a formula by which the Government of Canada would basically settle up with the provinces. This is just their best estimate at the time. At the current time we're forecasting none, but if the price drops, then....

Government Operations committee  I can speak to some of this. The aircraft in question is the Chinook 147. That's the funding I'm aware of for the aircraft. In terms of the armoured vehicles, I'm not aware of which class is involved, but I believe they're personnel carriers. I don't have any information on what class of vehicle they are though.

Government Operations committee  It's the Halifax class frigate for sure, but I'm not a navy guy, so I apologize that I don't really know much detail.

Government Operations committee  That's an excellent question. I would say a couple of things on contaminated sites. The size of the liability, which the member has mentioned, is important. Understand that when we look at public accounts—and we do have to compare these two numbers—when we get a sense of the environmental liability and agree that the government is responsible or has assumed responsibility, we put a liability on the public accounts.

Government Operations committee  No, there is a mix. Some is going to assessment and some is going to cleanup. It's both, but I did want to highlight that some does go to assessment.

Government Operations committee  I think about 15% to 20% is the norm.