Government Operations committee  I sat on.... In fact, it's a matter of public record that I've been the vice-chair.

Government Operations committee  I've been vice-chair of that. I'm not going to speak on matters of cabinet confidence. You'll understand that there are cabinet confidences that apply to cabinet meetings, and I'm not going to violate those.

Government Operations committee  You'd have to ask that question of the Prime Minister, who makes those decisions in terms of cabinet committees. In the last changes made to cabinet committees, Treasury Board actually took on additional responsibilities, including, for instance, in the oversight of the development of the new pay system, the next-generation pay system, and also some additional responsibilities in terms of defence procurement.

Government Operations committee  I'm sorry. What was that?

Government Operations committee  Actually, I've already addressed this in the House of Commons—

Government Operations committee  I will say very clearly that as a new government with a $670-million untendered contract, we had a responsibility, which I exercise as President of the Treasury Board, to do due diligence and to ensure value for money. That is something—

Government Operations committee  We all have a vested interest in the success of indigenous peoples. This is the fastest-growing and youngest population in Canada. If we get this right, this is a huge opportunity for Canada. Having a young population and a fast-growing population can be a good thing. If we get this wrong, it is catastrophic for all of us in terms of the future, both economically and socially.

Government Operations committee  You're quite right in identifying that many indigenous peoples are extremely concerned about climate change. Many of the communities of indigenous people are, in fact, coastal communities that will bear the brunt of climate change in the coming years. We are making significant investments not just in terms of measures to reduce our carbon footprint as a government and as a country, addressing long-term climate change, but also in terms of a mitigation strategy and a resilience strategy to help communities become better prepared, including changes that will protect critical infrastructure and working with other levels of government.

Government Operations committee  Well, Minister MacAulay is a great fellow, too. With the changes we made so far, we are again raising the bar on openness and transparency. That was recently recognized in the Open Data Barometer survey, where we ranked number one globally in terms of how governments publish and use open data for accountability, innovation and social impact.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair and committee members, we have exceptional public servants serving the people of Canada on an ongoing basis, and Brian Pagan is one of the finest with whom I've worked, in two different ministries. I want to thank you, Brian, for the work. Come back any time. Welcome, Glenn.

Government Operations committee  You know how fond I am of this committee and its members.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm delighted to be here with you at the committee again. With me today are Brian Pagan, the assistant secretary of the expenditure management sector, and Karen Cahill, the chief financial officer. I would also like to introduce Glenn Purves, who has joined Treasury Board from Finance.

Government Operations committee  You see, on this side, we really appreciate the public service and the work you do.

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, there is no relationship more important to this government than our relationship with indigenous peoples. We are working with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated on the successful implementation of the Nunavut agreement. We are taking a whole-of-government approach to this, to developing a procurement policy directive that effectively supports economic development and jobs for the Inuit of Nunavut.

Public Services and Procurement  Mr. Speaker, with regard to the Irving shipyard, during the period in question a letter was sent to other ministers and copied to me. I did my job as Treasury Board president, which was to ensure due diligence in the contracting process to make sure we took our responsibility seriously to get the best possible equipment for our Canadian men and women in uniform and the best value for Canadian taxpayers.