Government Operations committee  We have a certain amount of funding set aside for our governance area, which is machinery of government and other pieces related to democratic institutions that support Minister Gould. We also have funding for the national security and intelligence adviser to the Prime Minister

Government Operations committee  I would suggest that it ebbs and flows. It's a large unit that does all the different types of appointments, so obviously, it has to be nimble.

Government Operations committee  Sorry, Mr. McCauley, I'm just trying to find the Senate piece. I don't have it broken out here. Perhaps I can give you that later. I don't want to waste time while I find it.

Government Operations committee  First, maybe I can just close the loop with Mr. McCauley. We made 16 appointments last fiscal year and 49 in total under the current government. To your question, as I explained before, the process was in the federal budget. Money was set aside. There was TB vote 40, which we ha

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  Thanks for your question, Mr. McCauley. I'm always pleased to answer as best as I can. This is a unique situation for me, in that I'm not the chief financial officer for the Leaders’ Debates Commission. The way it was formed, as you know, is that we did the Treasury Board submis

Government Operations committee  For the vote 40 piece, however—the supplementary estimates that were just tabled—the $438,000 was for a new department. The deputy head is actually the debates commissioner, so he is the best person to ask these questions. Having said that, I have worked with him in anticipation

Government Operations committee  The $400,000 that was already allocated was spent at PCO at the direction of the Debates Commission. Just from a timing perspective, the department had not been created. Those are start-up costs and informatics costs. Those are accommodation costs to actually set-up an office. A

Government Operations committee  Because it's under cost. We're spending less than was anticipated this fiscal year. I would suggest that's a good news story.

Government Operations committee  We'll get that number for you.

Government Operations committee  Our role in the Senate appointments is really administrative. We help to pull together the nominees and bring them to the decision-makers. Ultimately, we're just playing an administrative role in the Senate appointment process. We're not exercising any type of political role. Th

Government Operations committee  There are different types of GIC appointments, whether it's the Senate or the leadership positions, so it really varies. I mentioned the Senate where we really have more of an administrative function, kind of bringing things together, helping with onboarding and that sort of thin

Government Operations committee  I don't have the historical comparison, but I can tell you that since we launched this, since February 2016, we've had 27,000 applications come through. I think that's indicative of the fact that we're having greater reach by doing it in this open and transparent manner.

Government Operations committee  Correct.

Government Operations committee  Yes, it's for leadership positions.