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REPORT ON THE Main Estimates and the Supplementary Estimates (B) for the year ending March 31, 2021 Standing Senate Committee on National Finance SECOND REPORT The Honourable Percy Mockler, Chair The Honourable Éric Forest, Deputy Chair The Honourable Marty Klyne, Deputy Chair The Honourable David Richards, Member of the Steering Committee December 2020 PAGE 1 MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE The Honourable Percy Mockler, Chair The Honourable Éric Forest, Deputy Chair The Honourable Marty Klyne, Deputy Chair The Honourable David Richards, Member of the Steering Committee The Honourable Peter M. Boehm The Honourable Jean-Guy Dagenais The Honourable Marty Deacon The Honourable Pat Duncan The Honourable Rosa Galvez The Honourable Tony Loffreda The Honourable Elizabeth Marshall The Honourable Larry W. Smith Ex-officio members: The Honourable Marc Gold, P.C. (or Raymonde Gagné) and the Honourable Donald Plett (or Yonah Martin) Other Senators who participated in the study: The Honourable Kim Pate Parliamentary Information and Research Service, Library of Parliament: Alex Smith, Analyst Shaowei Pu, Analyst Committees Directorate: Maxime Fortin, Clerk of the Committee Louise Martel, Administrative Assistant of the Committee Andrea Mugny, Procedural Clerk PAGE 2 ORDER OF REFERENCE Extract from the Journals of the Senate of Wednesday, November 18, 2020: With leave of the Senate, The Honourable Senator Gagné moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator Gold, P.C.: That the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance be authorized to examine and report upon the expenditures set out in the Main Estimates and the Supplementary Estimates (B) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. The question being put on the motion, it was adopted. Interim Clerk of the Senate Richard Denis PAGE 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ...................................................................................................................... 1 ORDER OF REFERENCE ................................................................................................................................... 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 4 OBSERVATIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 5 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 6 1 TREASURY BOARD OF CANADA SECRETARIAT ................................................................................. 7 2 PUBLIC SERVICES AND PROCUREMENT CANADA ........................................................................... 10 3 PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OF CANADA ............................................................................................... 12 4 HEALTH CANADA ................................................................................................................................... 15 5 EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT CANADA ..................................................................... 17 6 INDIGENOUS SERVICES CANADA ....................................................................................................... 19 7 DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE CANADA .................................................................................................. 22 8 TRANSPORT CANADA ........................................................................................................................... 25 9 REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES ............................................................................................... 28 APPENDIX – WITNESSES WHO APPEARED BEFORE THE COMMITTEE .................................................. 31 PAGE 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As part of its oversight role, the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance considered the Main Estimates and the Supplementary Estimates (B) for the year ending March 31, 2021, which were referred to the committee on November 18, 2020. The Main Estimates 2020–21 set out $125.1 billion in voted budgetary expenditures and $179.5 billion in statutory forecasts, for a total of $304.6 billion, which is an increase of 1.6% from the previous year’s main estimates. The Supplementary Estimates (B), 2020–21 request Parliament’s approval for $20.9 billion in voted budgetary expenditures and increase forecasted budgetary statutory expenditures by $58.3 billion, for total budgetary expenditures of $79.2 billion. Non-budgetary statutory expenditures are forecasted to increase by $1.3 billion. Of these authorities, approximately $15 billion (74%) of the voted requirements and $57 billion (96%) of the statutory forecasts are related to the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to examine the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates B, the committee held three meetings and questioned 40 officials from 14 organizations that are requesting total appropriations of approximately $16.7 billion in the supplementary estimates, which is 80% of the total voted amount requested. The committee also heard from President of the Treasury Board, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, and the Parliamentary Budget Officer. PAGE 5 OBSERVATIONS The committee’s observations from issues raised during the meetings include: 1. The federal government should provide clear and consistent monthly reports on the cost and performance of all its COVID-19-related programs. 2. The federal government should continue working with provinces and territories to ensure timely access to sufficient medical supplies across Canada. 3. The federal government, in cooperation with provinces and territories, should set out a clear plan of how and where COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed across Canada. It should also ensure that Canada increases its domestic capacity to develop and produce vaccines, medical countermeasures, medical supplies and personal protective equipment. 4. To ensure consistency and accessibility, Health Canada should work with provinces and territories to develop common standards for COVID-19 immunization records. 5. Employment and Social Development Canada should put in place new national standards for accommodations for temporary foreign workers in the agriculture sector by February 28, 2021. 6. Indigenous Services Canada should recognize its healthcare responsibilities and ensure the speedy deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to Indigenous communities, as their communities are at disproportionate risk of disastrous public health outcomes from the pandemic. 7. The federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous governments should work together to share best practices and determine whether the objectives of the Safe Restart Agreement and the Safe Return to Class Fund have been achieved. 8. The federal government should work with provinces and territories, as well as regional and mainline air carriers, to develop support measures for the air transportation sector that require cooperation rather than competition and ensure continued service to all Canadians. 9. The federal government should ensure that sufficient funding is available to help small- and medium-sized businesses that were unable to access other federal supports, particularly in hard- hit sectors, such as tourism, restaurants, hotels, culture and retail. PAGE 6 INTRODUCTION The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance has an important role to play on behalf of Parliament and Canadians in examining the federal government’s spending plans, as outlined in the main and supplementary estimates. The committee reviews and presents reports on the government’s proposed spending in order to examine whether it is reasonable, takes into account value-for-money, will be effective in achieving the government’s objectives and allows parliamentarians to follow the money. The Main Estimates 2020–21 were tabled in the Senate on March 10, 2020. Two appropriation bills for interim supply, together representing approximately 9/12 of the amount set out in the main estimates, were passed in the previous session of Parliament. On October 2, 2020, these estimates were tabled again in the current session of Parliament in order to approve the remaining amount. The Main Estimates 2020–21 set out $125.1 billion in voted budgetary expenditures and $179.5 billion in statutory forecasts, for a total of $304.6 billion in budgetary expenditures, which is an increase of 1.6% from the previous year’s main estimates. The Main Estimates 2020–21 do not include new spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Supplementary Estimates (B), 2020–21 were tabled in the Senate on October 28, 2020. The Main Estimates and the Supplementary Estimates (B) for the year ending March 31, 2021 were referred to the committee on November 18, 2020. These supplementary estimates request Parliament’s approval for an additional $20.9 billion in voted budgetary expenditures and increase forecasted statutory budgetary expenditures by $58.3 billion, for total budgetary expenditures of $79.2 billion, which is an increase of 20% of expenditure authorities to date. Non-budgetary statutory expenditures are forecasted to increase by $1.3 billion. Of these authorities, approximately $15 billion (74%) of the voted requirements and $57 billion (96%) of the statutory forecasts are related to the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to examine the Main Estimates 2020–21 and the
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