Honourable senators, with leave of the Senate and notwithstanding rule 5-5(b), I move that the bill be read the third time now.

Honourable senators, thank you for this opportunity to provide an overview of the 2020-21 Supplementary Estimates (B). As honourable senators are aware, these supplementary estimates outline the government’s incremental spending plans. These, of course, are in addition to the Main Estimates for the year, which were tabled this past February, and the Supplementary Estimates (A), which were tabled in June.

This year, the President of the Treasury Board tabled the Supplementary Estimates (B) for 2020-21 on October 22 in the House of Commons. They present information on spending requirements across federal organizations that were either not sufficiently developed in time for inclusion in the Main Estimates or have been refined to account for developments in certain programs and services. They also include a summary of the government’s incremental financial requirements as well as an overview of major funding requests and horizontal initiatives.

Colleagues, in our parliamentary system, the estimates are a cornerstone of government accountability.

Canadians and the parliamentarians who represent them have the right to know how public funds are spent and to hold the government to account.

The information contained in the supplementary estimates ensures ongoing transparency and accountability on the use of public funds to deliver programs and services to Canadians and, in accordance with the government’s commitment to transparency, Supplementary Estimates (B), 2020-21 continues to report on the spending authorized by the emergency response legislation associated with COVID-19 in order to provide critical programs and services to Canadians.

Honourable senators, the government continues to invest in people, the economy and COVID-19-related support in order to ensure Canada’s success and economic recovery.

As we work to recover and restart the economy, we are all relearning what it means to live and work safely. COVID-19 forced the government to quickly shift its focus to roll out critical services and supports to Canadians in record time. This was undertaken by a workforce which, in a matter of a few short days, had pivoted to remote work.

It was a Herculean effort. Normally it would have taken months, but this was done in a matter of weeks.

The large-scale shift of the federal workforce to home offices has certainly had its share of challenges for our public servants. But Shared Services Canada quickly adapted to support this change by increasing network capacity and introducing collaborative tools for public servants to work together effectively outside of an office setting. This back-end support allowed public servants to deliver critical information, programs and services to Canadians during an extremely challenging and uncertain time.

The government quickly rolled out key support services like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. As well, it built tools to help Canadians stay informed about COVID-19 and the government supports available to them.

Importantly, colleagues, the government also benefited by working in collaboration with its international and private sector partners. For example, Canada’s new notification service “Get Updates on COVID-19” was built using open source code from the U.K.’s Digital Government Service and has sent over 5 million important messages to Canadians by text or email since April.

This includes the launch of COVID Alert, a smartphone notification app that informs Canadians of potential exposure to the virus without sharing any personal information with other users, private interests or government institutions. I strongly encourage all honourable senators to download the app, if they haven’t already done so, to help do their part.

Honourable senators, I want to point out that countries like Ireland, the Netherlands, Uruguay, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan have developed similar apps using the Apple and Google application frameworks. People all around the world are working together out of compassion to deal with this crisis.

Canada’s response to the pandemic inspired confidence in the government’s capacity to react decisively and effectively to serve Canadians in times of crisis. We called on public servants to come together and do their part, and that is what they did.

However, dear colleagues, if they are to continue providing the critical services Canadians need during these difficult times, we need to ensure that all of their departments and agencies have the funds they need.

As the number of cases continues to rise across the country, we must recognize that the virus is still very real and that it is affecting Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

As parliamentarians, we have a responsibility to ensure that our fellow Canadians continue to get support during this difficult time.

Honourable senators, these supplementary estimates provide that needed support. Through these estimates, the government is seeking Parliament’s approval of $20.9 billion in planned spending for this fiscal year. Changes in planned spending are presented for 83 federal organizations, of which 71 require parliamentary approval of new spending.

As I will cover in a moment, honourable senators, these estimates lay out spending plans that further address the health and economic impacts of COVID-19. They also present statutory forecasts for these same items, pursuant to the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act, which will be repealed on December 31, and provisions in the Financial Administration Act authorizing payments to the provinces and territories, which were repealed on September 30. Overall, funding requirements for the top 10 organizations account for approximately 85.5% of the voted spending sought through these estimates.

As honourable senators might expect, the organization with the most amount of funding, $9.3 billion, is the Public Health Agency of Canada. That includes $5.3 billion for medical research and vaccine developments, as well as $2.2 billion for protective and medical gear for our front-line workers. There is also $783 million for medical countermeasures to help secure and enhance domestic biomanufacturing capacity to obtain a sufficient supply of packaging materials for the COVID-19 vaccine. This will allow us to secure mass vaccination equipment and build capacity for successful vaccine deployment.

The Department of Finance is seeking a total of $3.3 billion, including $1 billion for provinces and territories to help cover the costs of adapting the education sector to ensure a safe return to class throughout the school year. Another $1 billion is for the Government of Alberta to close inactive oil and gas wells and rehabilitate the well sites. Funding for the Safe Restart Agreement is $700 million, which supports provinces and territories in safely restarting their economies and preparing for possible future waves of the virus.

Funding in these estimates will help provinces and territories increase their capacity to conduct testing, perform contact tracing and share public health data that will help fight the pandemic. It includes $461 million of funding for the essential workers support fund to cost share, with provinces and territories, a temporary top-up to salaries of workers deemed essential in the fight against COVID-19.

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada is seeking $926 million in these supplementary estimates, including $760 million related to specific claims.

Specific claims refer to claims made by a First Nation against the federal government that relate to the administration of land and other first nation assets and to the fulfilment of historic treaties or other agreements.

The primary objective of the specific claims policy, esteemed colleagues, is to discharge outstanding legal obligations of the federal government through negotiated settlement agreements.

The Specific Claims Settlement Fund is used to pay out settlement agreements to First Nations.

The Treasury Board Secretariat is seeking $647 million, including $585 million for public service insurance plans and programs.

Public service group insurance plans include health and dental benefits, and disability and life insurance benefits for active and retired employees and their eligible dependants.

This funding represents increased costs due to inflation and demographic growth and will help ensure the financial viability of the plans.

As a final example, $721 million is for Public Services and Procurement Canada, of which $400 million is to acquire and distribute supplies of key goods and services, such as medical equipment, including personal protective equipment for a broad range of organizations that are involved in COVID-19 response or provide non-medical essential services to Canadians.

The $58.3 billion in planned statutory spending reflects the government’s key response measures and emergency supports, including $28.5 billion for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, $12.3 billion for payments to the provinces and territories for the Safe Restart Agreement, $3.8 billion for medical research and vaccine development and $3.3 billion for protective gear and medical equipment. Also being sought for non-budgetary measures is $1.3 billion, related primarily to student loans.

Honourable senators, it is also important to be clear about the difference between voted spending and statutory spending. Voted spending requires annual approval from Parliament through an appropriation bill.

That means that parliamentarians carefully examine the spending plans proposed by the government before they are approved.

Statutory spending, on the other hand, is presented in the supplementary estimates for information purposes because it has already been approved by Parliament through other laws.

Presenting voted spending and statutory spending in the supplementary estimates guarantees that Canadians have the most complete information possible on the planned spending of appropriation-dependent organizations.

The government also continues to publish other detailed information online for the current supplementary estimates, including a full breakdown of planned expenditures by standard object, such as staff, professional services and transfer payments.

These user-friendly online information tools make it possible to keep Canadians informed about the use of public funds in a more transparent way.

Honourable senators, as the supplementary estimates indicate, the government remains resilient, responsible and mindful of the safety of Canadians throughout this global pandemic.

Public servants continue to work hard to support Canadians at this extremely difficult time.

The new spending plans set out in the supplementary estimates will continue to provide support to those affected by COVID-19 and support for the economy and Canadians.

I would like to thank all parliamentarians who worked together in person and online during these unprecedented circumstances, while we continue to work to strengthen the economy and improve the well-being of all Canadians.

Thank you.