Scott Brison

[Main Estimates, 2018-19, June 14th, 2018]

moved:

That Vote 1, in the amount of $11,976,317, under Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency—Operating expenditures, in the Main Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, be concurred in.

[Main Estimates, 2018-19, June 14th, 2018]

moved:

That Vote 5, in the amount of $25,608,189, under Canadian Food Inspection Agency—Capital expenditures, in the Main Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, be concurred in.

[Main Estimates, 2018-19, June 14th, 2018]

moved:

That Vote 1, in the amount of $535,823,238, under Canadian Food Inspection Agency—Operating expenditures, grants and contributions, in the Main Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, be concurred in.

[Main Estimates, 2018-19, June 14th, 2018]

moved:

That Vote 1, in the amount of $30,232,320, under Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency—Program expenditures and contributions, in the Main Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, be concurred in.

[Main Estimates, 2018-19, June 14th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to be here tonight to pose a question for my friend and colleague from the Conservative Party. Of course, I would gently remind him that it was the Conservative government that in fact was taken to court by the Parliamentary Budget Office for not sharing information on spending with Parliament. Furthermore, it was the Harper Conservative government, the first government in the history of the British Commonwealth, to be found in contempt of Parliament for not providing the necessary information on government spending to Parliament.

Beyond that, I would refer the member to the measures that are listed very specifically in the estimates in annex 1, which will give him, granularly, the amounts of money being expended, specifically by the department or agency.

I would also give him the opportunity to benefit from the monthly updates on how much money was allocated and how much is remaining, which will be available when he uses a search engine to look at Treasury Board Canada budget implementation vote 2018.

Furthermore, if he looks at the departmental results framework, he will find that in fact this is unprecedented in terms of transparency to Parliament. However, I fear the hon. member would not know the difference between a frozen allotment and a slush fund at this point, having heard his comments tonight—

[Main Estimates, 2018-19, June 14th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to help my colleague with his research. If he would like information about how each amount is spent, he can consult the website or use Google. All he has to do is search for the following phrase:

“Treasury Board Canada budget implementation vote 2018”, and as such, he will have monthly updates on how the funding has been allocated and how much is remaining. In fact, he does not have to wait until the fall of 2019, although I suspect that after the election, in the fall of 2019, he will continue to have a fair bit of time on his hands to do this kind of research from one of those seats over there. However, I appreciate very much his optimism and professionalism in this House.

[Main Estimates, 2018-19, June 14th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I believe the hon. member's question was specifically on Public Services and Procurement Canada.

To go through that, the investments will be $307 million, through the 2018-19 main estimates, for PSPC to stabilize the government's pay system. That is a mess we inherited from the Harper Conservatives, who, in cutting $70 million from the budget at that time, eliminated 700 pay advisers and created the genesis of the situation we have now.

Also, $275 million will be invested to maintain and repair real property. The Government of Canada, through Public Services and Procurement Canada, manages about seven million square metres of office space. Of that, 3.5 million square meters are owned, and 3.5 million are leased. That will help repair real property. There are a lot of deferred maintenance issues in our real property portfolio that simply need to be addressed.

It will also include $52 million to be invested to find a simpler and better procurement solution. We know the importance of using modern tools and digital technology to improve the relationship between the Government of Canada and the people we serve. That includes the vendor community, which is why we are investing to make it easier to do business with the Government of Canada, grow their businesses, and provide great services for the people.

[Main Estimates, 2018-19, June 14th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the question.

Let me start off by saying that it is patently obvious we have to diversify our international trade relationships. That is why our Minister of International Trade, our Prime Minister, and our whole team are working very hard to sign free trade agreements such as the CPTPP and CETA.

Diversifying our relationships is of vital importance. We need to make sure that our businesses, be they large or small, have the means to increase prosperity and create middle-class jobs. That is an important part of our plan.

It is also crucial that we enhance economic opportunities available to women across Canada, and our commitment to that is clear in the latest budget.

[Main Estimates, 2018-19, June 14th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, Treasury Board is not only acting more rigorously than under the previous government, but is acting more transparently.

I suspect the hon. member is familiar with the search engine Google. If he were to google Treasury Board Canada budget implementation vote 2018, he will see monthly updates on how much of the funding has been allocated and how much remains. If he wants to go further to understand the activities of departments and really follow the money, he could use that search engine, Google, and google departmental results framework with the name of a department. He will not only see greater information and clarity on the activities of the department, but he will see, for the first time ever, that our government is reporting on results of investments. We are not just focused on outputs, on how much we are spending, but we are focused on outcomes, what we are achieving.

Further, if he would like to google Treasury Board Canada departmental plans, he can review the annual plans for each department.

I have great respect for the hon. member and I have great respect for—

[Main Estimates, 2018-19, June 14th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I would draw the attention of the hon. member to the words of the Auditor General, who did recognize that our government could not move funding arbitrarily from one of these commitment to another, one of these investments that are listed quite clearly in annex 1 of the main estimates and referred to in the supply bill, without coming back to Parliament.

It is a little rich, coming from the Conservatives, to talk about openness and transparency to Parliament or respect for the Parliamentary Budget Officer. In the last Parliament, the PBO had to take the Harper Conservatives to court to get information on government spending. Furthermore, the Harper Conservative government was the only government in the history of the British Commonwealth to have been found to be in contempt of Parliament by Mr. Speaker Milliken for not providing the information required by Parliament to do our work.