Government Operations committee  Being a one program process-oriented agency, obviously with regard to data it's maybe a lot simpler than what my colleagues have been saying. We are serving 14 jurisdictions and the aspect of client satisfaction is very important. We regularly survey our clients and have a satisf

Government Operations committee  I'll pass on the question to my colleague Brian.

Government Operations committee  That's an interesting question. If you've noticed, our statistics for last year show that we did 115 meetings, but of these 115 meetings, 40 were teleconferences, and two of them were virtual. In line with not only the orientation of federal government but also the provinces' ori

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. The reason for this is that before 2004 we used to go almost regularly to Treasury Board to obtain supplementary estimates, because we never had enough money to be able to serve all the conferences that were coming our way, so the decision was taken

Government Operations committee  Well, it gives us flexibility because, as I mentioned in my opening speech, we have no control over the number of conferences that we do in a given year or their location and frequency. For instance, we just did a first ministers meeting, which cost the secretariat close to a q

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. With me is Mr. Brian Berry, who is the assistant secretary and chief financial officer. We welcome the opportunity to appear before this standing committee. Because of the rather unique nature of the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat, with

Government Operations committee  No. There were no intergovernmental meetings of ministers during the time he was there.

Government Operations committee  “Passive” is a strong word. No, he would do what he was supposed to do, in the sense of being a minister responsible for signing the documents pertaining to my agency.

Government Operations committee  In that context, obviously, he was the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. For instance, he signed all our documents and that sort of thing, so basically we had this relationship with the minister's office. It was always very productive, and on occasion we briefed the minister

Government Operations committee  Obviously the secretariat is involved in the process side. We are not involved in the results of the discussions, other than helping out with the communiqué. But if you're looking at the number of sectors that we do serve, and there are approximately 30 sectors of intergovernment

Government Operations committee  Thank you. In light of the neutral and impartial nature of the secretariat, we do have a very efficient link with the Privy Council Office. For instance, I report to Parliament through the President of the Queen's Privy Council, not through the Minister of Intergovernmental Affa

Government Operations committee  There has been a reduction in the number of conferences we've been serving. If we look, for instance, at 2005-06, that year we did 115. This coming fiscal year we're predicting about 70-odd conferences. But it's not necessarily due to.... There are circumstances that go beyond th

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With me are Monsieur Daniel Plourde, the assistant secretary and CFO, and Madame Anik Lapointe, our director of corporate services. We welcome the opportunity to appear before your committee. Because the secretariat is very unlike other federal agencie