THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL FINANCE

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

OTTAWA, Tuesday, June 18, 2024
(114)

[English]

The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance met this day at 9:02 a.m., in room W110, 1 Wellington St., the chair, the Honourable Claude Carignan, P.C., presiding.

Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Carignan, P.C., Dalphond, Forest, Galvez, Gignac, Kingston, LaBoucane-Benson, Loffreda, MacAdam, Marshall, Pate, Ross and Smith (13).

Participating in the meeting: Shaowei Pu and André Léonard, analysts, Library of Parliament.

Pursuant to the order of reference adopted by the Senate on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, the committee began its examination of the Supplementary Estimates (A) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025.

WITNESSES:

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat:

Antoine Brunelle-Côté, Assistant Secretary, Expenditure Management Sector;

Karen Cahill, Assistant Secretary and Chief Financial Officer;

Stephen Burt, Chief Data Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy and Performance Sector, Office of the Chief Information Officer;

David Prest, Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Employee Relations and Total Compensation Sector, Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer;

Mélanie Laflèche, Executive Director, Leadership Policies and Programs, People and Culture Sector, Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer;

Emilio Franco, Executive Director, Procurement, Materiel, and Communities Directorate, Office of the Comptroller General;

Rod Greenough, Executive Director, Expenditure Management Sector.

Department of Finance Canada:

Christopher Veilleux, Chief Financial Officer;

Julie Turcotte, Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic Policy Branch;

Alison McDermott, Assistant Deputy Minister, Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy Branch;

Thomas Larouche, Director General, Budget and Government Operations, Fiscal Policy Branch;

Clifton Lee-Sing, Director, Markets and Securities Policy, Financial Sector Policy Branch.

Transport Canada:

Jaime Caceres, Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services;

Chantale Côté, Director General, Policies, Integration and Governance, High Frequency Rail;

Serge Bijimine, Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy;

Nicholas Robinson, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security;

Stephanie Hébert, Assistant Deputy Minister, Programs.

Antoine Brunelle-Côté, Christopher Veilleux and Jaime Caceres each made a statement and, together with Thomas Larouche, Mélanie Laflèche, David Prest, Serge Bijimine, Stephanie Hébert, Alison McDermott, Clifton Lee-Sing, Rod Greenough and Stephen Burt, answered questions.

At 11:02 a.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chair.

ATTEST:

Mireille K. Aubé

Clerk of the Committee