Information & Ethics committee  No, Mr. Chair. Basically, we are not at the same level as small agencies. We are considered an officer of Parliament under the Parliament of Canada Act, and therefore of the same status as the House of Commons and the Library of Parliament. The Auditor General does not have any

Information & Ethics committee  Our financial statements are done by the Library of Parliament, so they're actually done by a third party that questions some of the transactions that have occurred throughout the year. The Library of Parliament has been taking a challenging role with our budget--even our budget

Information & Ethics committee  We receive a letter from the Speaker stating that he has transferred our estimates to Treasury Board. But the details as to whether or not he sought outside advice are not provided. I know that when we provide our main estimates to him we have detailed notes on every increase o

Information & Ethics committee  He could, but normally if he is considering a 10% decrease he would come back to us and say, “Why are you asking for this? I'm considering that.” Then there would be an exchange of information at that level.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  It goes through Milliken, the Speaker of the House, and then to Treasury Board.

Information & Ethics committee  Every three years, we have to start changing our computer hardware. That's the standard for the House of Commons. So this year we're replacing one-third of our computers.

Information & Ethics committee  Last year we had some flexibility in our budgets. We didn't use up all the salary dollars we were allocated. Therefore, what we ended up doing instead of doing supplementary estimates to cover these agreements was use the flexibility we had within our budget.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, we have.

Information & Ethics committee  No. Once again, our 2007-2008 main estimates will be based on our operational requirements of the moment. If Bill C-2 passes, we will have to go for supplementary estimates at that point in time.

Information & Ethics committee  Exactly, but unfortunately, because the main estimates for 2007-2008 are due to Treasury Board in the middle of November and haven't passed, we cannot anticipate the costs.

Information & Ethics committee  Basically what happens is that the employment benefits plan is based on the actual salary you forecast. As well, it's also based on a percentage that's pre-established by Treasury Board. In previous years it was 20%. This year it went down to 19%, so it's an adjustment.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  Actually, for Industry Canada there was only a $60,000 payment last year, but most of the chunk was paid out of the 2004-2005 budget.