Government Operations committee  As the deputy minister stated, in prior years, we didn't really have funding for affordable housing. It's mostly what has been announced in this year's budget. In the budget announcements, it was very focused on lands for housing initiatives. Those will be reflected in supplementary estimates; they aren't reflected in our main estimates.

Government Operations committee  Yes. It’s mainly for human resources.

Public Accounts committee  I can't speak to the particular case.

Public Accounts committee  I'm speaking on behalf of PSPC, where we contract services for ourselves. In the particular case we're talking about, GC Strategies—

Public Accounts committee  That is one of the questions being looked at. When that determination is made, the appropriate authorities will be involved, as my colleague Catherine Poulin has indicated.

Public Accounts committee  Normally—and I can speak on behalf of our department—in a situation where our department was party to a contract where we did not get services that were supposed to be delivered, we would absolutely have the right to go after a party to recover the funds.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the question. The total investment in Phoenix to date is $3.5 billion. The vast majority of that investment is actually not outsourcing, to be clear. It is for public servants who work on the Phoenix pay system, who work on paying public servants every day, and that's where the vast majority of that investment has been made to date.

Government Operations committee  It's not only for fixing it. When I quote the number of $3.5 billion, it also includes maintaining the system to continue to pay public servants on a regular basis. That total number includes both the cost of continuing to pay public servants and dealing with items like the backlog, as well as continuing to improve the system so that it can accurately pay public servants.

Government Operations committee  It is a combination. We have some very large projects like, for example, the ESAP project, which is something here in the national capital area that is very focused on greening. It is to upgrade the centralized heating and air conditioning facilities for the federal government, and it will have a huge benefit in reducing greenhouse emissions.

Government Operations committee  Sure. Thank you, Deputy Thompson. There are a lot of things that we, as a department.... As the deputy mentioned, it varies from dams to bridges and office buildings. There's 875 Heron Road; West Memorial Building, which you may be familiar with; and Timiskaming Dam. The variety of projects is quite diverse, and the timing of when capital is required for those projects depends on the particular ramp-up and ramp-down of a particular project.

Government Operations committee  Thank you. From what I've seen from PSPC, in our department as CFO, and the things I see across our desks, I've never seen anything come across that would suggest that, to what—

Government Operations committee  I can't comment about DND. I can comment about PSPC. In the case of PSPC, when we do have consultants, they're there for very specific expertise. In terms of staffing and suggesting that we staff certain roles through consultants, that has not been something that I've seen in my role as CFO.

Government Operations committee  That is correct, Minister. On Canada Post, I do believe they recently announced that they will be moving towards greening their fleet.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Minister. I'll just comment that, because those pension plans are separate entities, they are required to essentially reimburse the government for the cost of accommodations. That's what that charge is. In essence, the $9.9 million is their reimbursing us for the space that they're using.

Government Operations committee  I think they're trying to consolidate all of them. However, I can give this committee assurance that we submitted ours on the deadline and we used the prescribed format, so I believe ours should be fairly straightforward. I know that they go through a rigorous process of quality control.