Media Room

Speeches

Speaking notes for the
Honourable Scott Brison
Minister of Public Works and
Government Services Canada

On the occasion of an address to the
Oakville Chamber of Commerce

January 12, 2005
Oakville, Ontario

Check against delivery

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

I am very happy to have this chance to address members of the Oakville Chamber of Commerce. This is my first speaking engagement of the New Year.

And I'm delighted that this initial talk of 2005 is with a business group. After all, I have a private sector background in investment banking, and in helping run a paint company in Canada and the United States. I actually started my first business when I was in my teens, renting compact fridges to fellow students.

Let me tell you, that I embark upon 2005 with complete confidence that the government of Paul Martin is on the right track.

We have reacted forcefully to the horrendous crisis facing South Asia after the tsunami. The government is providing $425 million in aid over five years including matching private donations; we've put a moratorium on debt repayments from the countries impacted; we've sent the DART team to Sri Lanka and we're fast-tracking some applications for immigration.

And the Martin government intends to be there in the long term as well to help in the reconstruction of the devastated areas. As the Prime Minister has said, rolling up our sleeves to help out is the "Canadian way".

Canada also sent 500 observers to help oversee the recent Ukrainian election. It's another example where we are playing a pivotal role in international affairs, and punching above our weight.

We've also been acting decisively at home. Soon after the election, we delivered a $41-billion-dollar health accord. We reached a ten-year $33 billion equalization deal with the provinces. Municipalities are benefiting from $7 billion in GST rebates over the next ten years and we will be delivering a portion of the gas tax as well. We are now working on a $5 billion child care initiative.

Our ability to defend Canadian values within our own borders and around the world is possible because the country is in good economic shape.

So that's what I want to talk about tonight…where we are as a government and more importantly, where we're going.

Canada is unique in the industrialized world for having chalked up seven consecutive balanced budgets with the latest surplus at $9.1 billion.

Our interest rates are low; so is inflation. And we have a historically low unemployment rate as well. Our dollar has strengthened. And we're paying down the national debt.

It's easy to become complacent and rest on our financial laurels with this kind of international success under our belt. That would be the wrong thing to do.

And that's why, right now, the Martin government is undertaking "Expenditure Review," an exercise to find $12 billion in savings over the next five years. That's $12 billion that can be reallocated from lower priorities to higher priorities, including foreign aid.

Some have asked why the government is engaged in such a thorough expenditure review process when the country is in a surplus position.

The real question is, why wouldn't all governments review their spending on an ongoing basis to eliminate waste, to improve efficiency and to maximize government spending power?

Shouldn't there be a continuous review of expenditures as a normal way of doing business? Isn't it just common sense?

I'm proud to be part of the Expenditure Review Committee. Our goal is clear: to transform the way we do business … to provide a smarter government…one that will deliver better services for Canadians and better value for taxpayers dollars.

I know we can't always operate government exactly like a business. However, I think there's absolutely no reason why private sector discipline and business practice can't be used to improve the efficiencies of government.

So our goal is to do nothing less than to change the way we do business as a government.

Our vision of change is based on one underlying principle: respect for the taxpayer and their hard-earned tax dollars … in essence, giving Canadians the best bang for their buck.

I'm confident we can save hundreds of millions of dollars each year, in fact billions of dollars over time, and yet, still improve services for the 21st century.

As part of expenditure review, the department of Public Works and Government Services Canada is expected to deliver more than $3 billion over the next five years.

These savings will come principally from increased efficiencies in four key areas of our operations at Public Works and Government Services Canada:

1) procurement,
2) office properties,
3) information technology, and
4) the greening of government operations.

Let's look at each of those four areas.

First, smarter buying can make a huge contribution to better efficiency. Each year the government buys about $13 billion worth of goods and services. That's more than a billion dollars a month spent on everything from flu vaccines, to helicopters, to paper clips.

Our goal at Public Works and Government Services Canada is to realize at least a ten percent savings in the cost of the goods and services acquired each year. That would mean freeing up more than a billion dollars per year…a billion dollars that can be invested in the priorities of Canadians such as health care, child care and the needs of communities, both here and abroad.

And we've already identified ways to do this. Our procurement is too slow and too complex. Too many of our purchases have been one-offs. We have not taken enough advantage of economies of scale or co-ordination between departments.

My parliamentary secretary, Walt Lastewka, has just completed the most comprehensive review of government procurement since 1963. Walt knows something about the issue…he spent his life before politics helping to reform the procurement system at General Motors Canada.

And he's brought in a number of concrete recommendations including:

• having better relations with suppliers,
• enforcing a mandatory use of standing offers,
• providing better training and
• more efficient procurement tools.

Public Works and Government Services Canada needs to be THE procurement arm of the government. It needs to stop treating the other 98 departments and agencies of government as clients, saying, 'whatever you want we'll buy.' Instead we need to work WITH them as colleagues, to deliver the best value for the ultimate client…the taxpayer and citizen of Canada.

Let me tell you about some of the progress we have already made. We're now working with IBM to implement the Government of Canada Marketplace - an innovative e-portal that will help us do purchasing as much as 50% faster while reducing the cost.

This year we will have a pilot project involving Public Works, the RCMP, Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board. Eventually we hope to save about $130 million a year in administrative costs.

In furniture, volume discounts have resulted in a 16 percent saving from previous prices. And our recent negotiations on other commodities are also showing savings well north of 15 percent.

So, we're already showing dramatic savings through smart buying. And we've only just begun.

The second part of our strategy focuses on our role as a landlord. Our department provides office space for 210,000 public servants across Canada. And in doing so, Public Works and Government Services Canada spends about $3 billion each year.

We know we can do better. Our studies show that the federal government spends 20 percent more per square foot to operate our office buildings. And we also use more space per employee than the industry average.

At the same time, we have some significant issues around deferred maintenance. We have a maintenance deficit of about $1 billion that's growing by about $100 million a year. So, we are an expensive landlord, and not always a very good one.

Already, we're taking steps to enforce stricter standards on the use of office space and to be more aggressive in our approach to leasing. Our goal is to save 15 percent of the costs.

And again, we're making progress. Our building maintenance contract has just been renegotiated with the winning bidder being SNC-Lavalin Profac. This contract will save over $50 million per year over our estimated budget. These are very significant savings.

So the short-term strategy is to achieve greater efficiencies in the management of our office buildings. But we don't intend to stop there.

In the medium term, we are exploring a number of options, including whether it makes sense to divest ourselves of some of our office properties and lease back the space needed.

I will soon be announcing a request for proposals to engage experts in the private sector to help us get more granular information on how to achieve better economic value from our real estate portfolio.

We want the outside experts to look at the value of owning versus leasing, whether it makes sense to outsource management, whether we should use REITs or real estate income trusts, or some combination of approaches.

I want to stress that we have not made any decisions yet. And I also pledge to you that nothing will be done to reduce the visibility of the Government of Canada in the communities or regions of this country.

The third element of our vision is to improve the business of government by continuing to modernize our information technology.

We need to make it easier for Canadian citizens and businesses to interact with the Government of Canada from the convenience of their homes. The financial sector has done it. The retail sector has done it. Now we must do it as well.

I've already mentioned the Government of Canada Marketplace. There's also the development of the Secure Channel. It will provide a world-class secure network to ensure Canadians can use their home computer to confidently, and conveniently do business with their government on-line 24/7.

For example, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada now uses the Secure Channel to process the records of employment to administer the Employment Insurance Fund. And the savings to employers are expected to reach $1.5 billion over a five-year period.

And lastly, I'd also like to turn my attention to a fourth area where Public Works and Government Services Canada has a lot of experience and expertise, and that's in sustainable development. "Greening" government is not only the right thing to do: it can save money as well.

Public Works and Government Services Canada is in the forefront of using low-emission vehicles. Our aim is to move as many vehicles in the government fleet as possible to alternative or hybrid fuel vehicles as leases run out.

Even if we save just 10 percent in fuel consumption, that would mean a savings of roughly $5 million a year.

We've made our own operations 33 percent more energy efficient since 1990 and reduced greenhouse gases by 24 percent. The result is an annual savings of $16 million a year in operating costs.

Even by expanding electronic direct deposits, we will not only save $86 million this fiscal year but also spare about 45 thousand trees.

Public Works and Government Services Canada is also committed to the purchase of "green" environmentally friendly products. And we're in the forefront of environmental remediation including the clean-up of the Sydney tar ponds and gold mines in the north.

I'd also like to see environmental experts at Public Works and Government Services Canada partner with CIDA. We could include in our tool box an offer of helping developing countries not just with institution-building but with environmental remediation as well.

What I have talked to you about tonight shows that we can save taxpayers dollars…in essence Public Works and Government Services can provide Canadians with an economic dividend. At the same time there can be an environmental dividend, and also a social dividend if this process helps improve services and builds public faith in government as a careful steward of their hard-earned cash.

All the changes I have mentioned are ambitious and will require difficult decisions. Some of those decisions will be made in the next few weeks leading to the budget.

Yet those choices are actually not as tough as the decisions faced by a Canadian family with several children making 20 or 30 thousand dollars a year. If we can make our decisions well, we can make their decisions a bit easier.

In closing, I want to repeat how determined I am to see this plan for smarter and greener government succeed. I can tell you that Prime Minister Paul Martin expects nothing less. And Canadians deserve nothing less.

Thank you.