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Results: 1 - 15 of 73
View Jean-Yves Duclos Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would first like to thank the committee for inviting me to discuss the Main Estimates 2021-2022 and the Treasury Board Secretariat's Departmental Plan 2021-2022.
I am accompanied today by some senior officials in my department, whom I will briefly introduce. They are: Glenn Purves, Assistant Secretary, Expenditure Management Sector, Roger Ermuth, Assistant Comptroller General, Financial Management Sector, Office of the Comptroller General, Karen Cahill, Assistant Secretary and Chief Financial Officer, Sonya Read, Acting Assistant Secretary, Digital and Services Policy, and Tolga Yalkin, Assistant Deputy Minister, Workplace Policies and Services.
The 2021-22 main estimates seek funding for the continuation of previously approved programs and services, as well as investments to support Canadians through the COVID-19 pandemic and to establish essential conditions for a successful economic recovery. These investments include economic support to Canadian citizens and businesses, vaccine funding, expanded support for pandemic-related mental health tools, virtual care and many others.
The main estimates provide information on $342.2 billion in proposed spending for 123 organizations. This can be further broken down into $141.9 billion in voted expenditures and $200.3 billion in statutory expenditures already authorized through existing legislation. Some $22.7 billion is related to the COVID-19 pandemic response. This includes just over $10 billion for the Canada recovery benefit, the Canada recovery sickness benefit and the Canada recovery caregiving benefit.
I would like to point out some significant changes in statutory spending from last year's main estimates. These include payments to individuals under the Canada Recovery Benefits Act, which I just mentioned. Other changes of those are updates to major transfer payments, notably benefits for the elderly and the Canada health transfer, and increased climate action incentive payments published in the 2020 fall economic statement.
The main estimates exclude certain items listed in the 2020 fall economic statement which do not require annual parliamentary approval, such as the Canada emergency wage subsidy and employment insurance.
For my own department, the Treasury Board Secretariat, the expenditures listed in the Main Estimates 2021-2022 include $3.7 billion for items such as government contingencies, government-wide initiatives, paylist requirements, the operating budget carry forward, the capital budget carry forward, and expenditures related to compensation.
The remainder of the Treasury Board Secretariat's expenditures are to continue to enhance the clarity and consistency of financial and performance reporting and to support the government's response to the pandemic.
The budget also contains a little more than $3 billion for our responsibilities as an employer. These are payments with respect to public service pensions, benefits and insurance, including the employer's contributions to health insurance, salary insurance and life insurance premiums.
The department's expenditures will also be used to prepare the public service for the future, in matters such as diversity, inclusion and accessibility, and to ensue compliance with the official languages legislation.
The funds are also used for negotiations with public sector unions, and to lead the implementation of the Pay Equity Act. These activities are described in more detail in the Treasury Board Secretariat's departmental plan 2021-2022, which, as I understand it, has piqued the committee's interest.
Departmental plans play a fundamental role in the expenditure cycle by outlining and describing organizational priorities linked to the funding sought through the main estimates. The departmental plans set out the objectives and expected results for departments and how they will achieve these results throughout the year.
In the case of the Treasury Board Secretariat, I would like to highlight a few of these commitments. For 2021-22, the secretariat will support the government's COVID-19 pandemic response by providing additional guidance to departments for implementing policies, programs and initiatives related to the response.
In collaboration with Finance Canada, the secretariat will also track the impact of the government's fiscal response to inform and support decision-making and investments going forward.
Other important objectives include reducing greenhouse gas emissions from federal operations and recruiting people to the public service from communities across Canada.
In addition, the secretariat actively works to support the creation of healthy, safe and inclusive workplaces, and to speed up government efforts to achieve a public service that is representative of the Canadian population it serves.
My department is also committed to efforts to reform regulations in order to help Canadian companies be more competitive, to improve transparency, to reduce the administrative burden, and to harmonize regulations.
These reforms will be undertaken with the assurance that we will be protecting the environment and the health and safety of Canadians.
In conclusion, the priorities set out in the secretariat's departmental plan and the investments requested in the main estimates reflect the priorities of our government and of Canadians.
We continue to prioritize the way these estimates are presented, with extensive explanatory documentation which is readily accessible to parliamentarians and Canadians alike online.
Thank you again for your kind invitation to speak with you today. My officials and I would be delighted to answer any questions you may have.
View Kelly McCauley Profile
CPC (AB)
Minister, welcome back. It's nice to see you well.
Did the Canada emergency wage subsidy go through the standard Treasury Board approval process?
View Jean-Yves Duclos Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I was looking forward to being back and in particular to exchanges with you, Kelly.
On the Canada emergency wage subsidy, as you will remember, that was voted on in Parliament, so—
View Kelly McCauley Profile
CPC (AB)
Right. As a new spending program under the Financial Administration Act, my understanding is that the wage subsidy program would have had to go through the standard Treasury Board approval process.
The reason I'm asking is that we've all seen the reports. It's the largest of the COVID spending at $100 billion. We've seen the reports recently, obviously, of wealthy hedge funds receiving the money and profitable companies receiving taxpayers' money.
Did it go through the usual Treasury Board approval process?
View Jean-Yves Duclos Profile
Lib. (QC)
You're right in saying this is an extremely important part of our pandemic response to the economic crisis. It helped, if I remember well, over five million workers to keep their jobs—
View Kelly McCauley Profile
CPC (AB)
It's a very simple question. Did this $100-billion program go through the standard Treasury Board approval process? Were any exemptions granted from policy for this $100 billion?
View Kelly McCauley Profile
CPC (AB)
Okay, let me just stop you both right here.
It's a $100 billion of taxpayers' money. Billions have gone to hedge funds. Billions have gone to profitable companies. For one of them, their market cap has gone up $9 billion since COVID started. You're saying that neither of you have an answer as to whether this $100 billion went through the standard Treasury Board approval process and whether any of this was granted exemptions going through the process.
Do you understand my concern?
Glenn Purves
View Glenn Purves Profile
Glenn Purves
2021-05-12 17:21
Minister Duclos is correct in the sense there are appropriations that go for spending authority and then there are statutory authorities that have various authorities built into the legislation.
If there was any step that involved the Treasury Board, certainly the authorities would have been secured before any money flowed. I'm just saying that it's a different path.
View Julie Vignola Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you.
I'm going to have to get more information, because everyone is passing the buck. At the end of the day, the public servants are the ones who are paying the price, and they've already paid a lot. I know a lady who is still waiting for $40,000 in compensation.
Currently, the main estimates don't include EI benefits, the Canada child benefit or the Canada emergency wage subsidy.
Mr. Purves, can you explain this to us?
View Julie Vignola Profile
BQ (QC)
The main estimates don't include EI benefits, the Canada child benefit or the Canada emergency wage subsidy.
Can you explain this to us?
Glenn Purves
View Glenn Purves Profile
Glenn Purves
2021-05-12 18:05
The purpose of the estimates is to ensure that parliamentarians have a line of sight on what is being put before them for voting as it pertains to the appropriations for the various votes of the departments. There is funding that is approved through appropriation acts, through the estimates, and there is a spending authority that is approved separately through statutory legislation. EI and the Canada child benefit are items that are supported under separate statutory legislation and that receive their payment authority through separate statutory legislation that is not linked directly to a department.
Glenn Purves
View Glenn Purves Profile
Glenn Purves
2021-05-12 18:07
That's why we include information on voted spending in the estimates document that is for decision by parliamentarians. For information purposes, we include the statutory legislation that's directly linked to that appropriation-dependent organization. Beyond that, if there are tax expenditures or if there is statutory funding that is forecast beyond that, it's typically covered under separate reporting, including for EI, including the tax expenditure report.
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