44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 19, 2022 10:00AM
- May/19/22 2:23:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as we know, we were in a pandemic for two years. We are now in a period of transition. Canadians followed the rules. They did everything they could to keep themselves and their friends safe.
We thank Canadians. The Government of Canada will be there to help them. We are putting measures in place to ensure that Canadians receive the services they need.
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- May/19/22 4:06:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to talk about this government's inability to deliver basic services. The immigration department has been a disaster for years. There are incredibly long, intolerable delays. We recently saw that the government is unable to issue employment insurance cheques, making people wait three or four months.
Anyone who wants to travel abroad must first have a passport. However, getting one right now takes forever. People are really worried about next year's vacation. Passports have predictable, set expiry dates. How is it that this government is unable to predict that more resources are needed to produce more passports?
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- May/19/22 4:19:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that was a great question.
My office staff as well have been very frustrated since the beginning of this pandemic. My office has turned into a Service Canada office. We are happy to serve the people of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex. In fact, I am going to take the time right now to thank my staff who have worked tirelessly for constituents to help them with any of their needs while the Service Canada offices were closed. I send my thanks to Yvonne, Todd, Kim, David, Anna Marie and Jordan. I appreciate all the work that they have done to help my constituents.
In the future, I would hope that the government would hire more people, reopen its offices, drop the mandates, get people back to work in their offices so they can do the jobs that we are paying them to do as taxpayers in Canada and restore the services back to prepandemic levels so we can get on with our lives.
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- May/19/22 5:05:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there are things I truly appreciated in my colleague's speech and things I do not agree with. One thing he touched on were the wait times at the airports. When we see the wait times at airports or passport services, we know the government has not adequately staffed the resources to respond to the increase in the amount of travel.
We have constantly heard complaints like these from Conservatives over the years. It is always a surprise to me when Conservatives say there are not enough public servants. They cut services, then they complain about it. The repercussions are delays in service. We saw that happen with Veterans Affairs under the Stephen Harper government. It cut a third of Veterans Affairs, and that made a backlog that exists even to this day.
Does my good friend and colleague not agree in the importance of investing in public services to support Canadians and make sure that they get the services they deserve and need?
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- May/19/22 7:34:23 p.m.
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Madam Chair, in these procurement processes, we absolutely want to focus on domestic production and support domestic production and services. That is the route we take, and we are going to continue to take that route. My understanding is that there is expertise here.
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- May/19/22 7:46:18 p.m.
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Madam Chair, is the minister committed to reigning in outsourcing to ensure Canadians are getting value for services and that we maintain institutional knowledge, skills and expertise in the public service?
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- May/19/22 7:46:54 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the announcement of a strategic review of the public service and potential cuts of up to $6 billion has prompted concern from hard-working public servants and Canadians who rely on public services. The last time a strategic review happened, the Harper government cut service delivery for veterans, people on EI and many others, while going after 19,000 public service jobs. The lack of details about this review is concerning.
Can the minister reassure Canadians that this review will not impact service levels, and that the federal public service unions will be consulted throughout the process?
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- May/19/22 8:14:09 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I think the member is confusing the contracts. This is with respect to the cloud services we have procured.
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- May/19/22 8:15:09 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the web services are the big-ticket item. The smaller items are items like pencils and things like that.
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- May/19/22 8:46:27 p.m.
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Madam Chair, we want to continuously work with the translation bureau to ensure it can provide the services that are needed. We know there is a stress on the system, and it is actually about hiring interpreters to commit to this. There is a limited pool of expertise in this regard, and we continue to work on it.
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- May/19/22 9:15:55 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I will let the minister answer.
Can she tell us what role Public Services and Procurement Canada plays in this process?
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- May/19/22 9:53:16 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, this is actually under the direction of the Communications Services Establishment.
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- May/19/22 10:12:42 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, not with respect to the app. There may be services that have been related, but not with respect to the actual app.
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- May/19/22 10:23:23 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Kitchener Centre.
It is a pleasure to stand before this committee to speak about the vast and integral work that Shared Services Canada, or SSC, does on behalf of Canadians and how it is keeping the private information of Canadians safe and secure in an increasingly hostile digital world.
SSC plays a vital role in supporting government operations. As a common service provider, SSC works to support the whole of the federal government as it delivers digital programs and services that meet the needs of Canadians. SSC continues to invest in technology and expertise that support an enterprise approach to its IT services and support by enabling federal government departments and agencies to shift toward the use of common IT systems.
This approach is not only more efficient than individual departments working independently of one another when it comes to their IT, but also safer. An enterprise approach helps the government reduce duplicated costs, achieve faster turnarounds and enhance cross-departmental collaboration when addressing problems. It provides more secure and reliable services and reduces risk. Ultimately, it helps us serve Canadians better.
SSC is working on several fronts to make smart, future-looking investments in the interest of better serving Canadians. This modern, adaptable digital approach is working to fully support the needs of Canadians. Through its data centres, networks and cloud service providers, SSC operates an infrastructure that powers the thousands of applications required for government operations that enable the delivery of essential digital services to Canadians.
Over the course of the worldwide COVID pandemic, the Government of Canada has continued to serve Canadians. Much of that work was a result of SSC being able to keep the lights on during those dark and uncertain days. Throughout the pandemic, SSC adapted to our collective new realities by launching new online collaboration tools for thousands of public servants working from home.
At the same time, SSC bolstered online portals vital to communicating with Canadians about programs and supports available to them and their families. This was no small achievement. To facilitate virtual work, SSC quickly performed major upgrades to the enterprise network, government-wide Internet and network security, the result being a modern, mobile workforce at the service of Canadians wherever they may be.
Recognizing the increased global attention that hybrid working models are now receiving, SSC is continuing to work to implement the technology and network upgrades necessary to enable the effective communication and collaborative tools for employees who will return to their workplace. This kind of digital government needs a high-performing and resilient enterprise network. Shared Services Canada is responsible for providing network infrastructure and services to almost half a million users across government departments and agencies to effectively deliver services to Canadians.
In an increasingly uncertain and hostile digital world, cybersecurity has become more important than ever, providing Canadians access to more and more programs and services online while simultaneously meeting the security and privacy expectations of the public.
The national cybersecurity strategy announced in 2018 is working to keep Canadians safe from evolving cybersecurity threats that target Canadians, Canadian businesses and our critical infrastructure. I am pleased to note that budget 2022 proposes to provide $875.2 million over five years and $238.2 million thereafter for those necessary measures to nimbly address the rapidly evolving cyber-threat landscape. This includes $178.7 million over five years allocated to SSC and CSE.
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- May/19/22 10:29:13 p.m.
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As the Government of Canada becomes increasingly digital with public servants working both from home and at work sites, and with more and more services being delivered online to Canadians, cybersecurity becomes more and more of a concern. With remote working having become integral to our operation, the rising dependence of citizens, businesses, industries and governments on everything digital is only going to continue. We need a system that constantly monitors activity, verifies users and limits access within a system. Cybersecurity is and needs to be a priority of our government. Our public servants need to be provided with modern tools, up-to-date government IT systems and digital services delivered to Canadians that are secure, reliable and easy to use at any time from any device.
Would the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, as the minister responsible for Shared Services Canada, please explain how Shared Services Canada is protecting our digital information?
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- May/19/22 10:30:31 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the member shared such important information, and I thank him for outlining the commitments that we have made in the budget.
Shared Services Canada is doing fantastic work. Cybersecurity is extremely important. We are making the investments we need to keep the system safe. I want to thank all the workers for their great work, particularly during this very challenging time.
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- May/19/22 10:41:14 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, is the minister aware that Australia has operated a postal operating system that offers over 3,500 post offices with access to banking services?
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- May/19/22 10:41:27 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I know that banking services have been discussed repeatedly and that there are models out there. Again, this is why the pilot is important. We are running pilots like this in order to gather information to determine pathways forward with respect to ensuring that Canadians are receiving the supports and services they need from Canada Post.
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- May/19/22 10:45:47 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, we absolutely want to work with Canada Post. We actually did that survey in order to hear from Canadians. The member read from my mandate letter. It talks about the services that are important to Canadians. We need to know what those services are. That was the reason for the survey. We want to get that information so that as we move forward, Canada Post is able to deliver services that Canadians value and need.
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