The committee was studying the government’s comprehensive expenditure review and its impact on services, hearing from Toufic El-Daher, National President of the Union of Veterans' Affairs Employees, and from Treasury Board Secretariat officials Bill Matthews, Annie Boudreau, and Francis Trudel.
Toufic El-Daher argued that Veterans Affairs Canada should be exempt from spending reductions, consistent with the exemption for the Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP, because growing geopolitical instability will increase veteran needs. He warned that the Bureau of Pensions Advocates will lose 44% of its workforce—96 employees, including 24 lawyers—on April 1 when temporary funding ends, forcing the cancellation of about 300 veteran hearings in April and extending wait times from two-to-three years to as long as five years. He stated that senior management at Veterans Affairs Canada did not submit a request to Treasury Board for the $9.5 million needed to extend term contracts, despite a backlog of 27,000 cases and an expected 25,000 new cases in 2026, and he called for immediate one-year contract extensions and stable ongoing funding for the bureau. He disagreed with the suggestion that no services are being cut, asserting that longer wait times directly harm veterans’ health, finances, and trust in the system.
Bill Matthews explained that the comprehensive expenditure review required departments to propose savings of up to 15% of their review base, targeting underperforming or non-core programs, with lower 2% targets for National Defence, the RCMP, and the CBSA. He noted that 102 organizations submitted proposals, which were reviewed to avoid impacts on service delivery, health, safety, or legal obligations, and that workforce reductions are being managed through attrition and voluntary departures, including a proposed early retirement incentive program. He confirmed that the Treasury Board Secretariat’s budget will be reduced by $58 million annually by 2028-29, with about 300 positions cut, and that departments will have their spending authority reduced in the main estimates to enforce savings.
Annie Boudreau clarified that the $7.75 billion in additional savings mentioned in the budget is separate from the comprehensive expenditure review and is not reflected in the main estimates, and that management consulting and IT services represent about 14% of professional services, down 10% from the previous year. She added that eight organizations with a 2% reduction target are still finalizing their plans, so that information was not provided to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
Francis Trudel described the workforce adjustment process as governed by collective agreements, with 25,000 notification letters issued but only about 9,700 employees expected to lose their jobs, and noted that the early retirement incentive program has been expanded to include Correctional Service employees, firefighters, search and rescue, Parliamentary Protective Service, Border Services Agency, and paramedics. He confirmed that unions are informed at the national and local levels, with a governance structure in place to ensure compliance with collective agreements.
During committee business, Kelly Block moved a motion recommending that the committee report to the House that Jason Jacques be appointed as permanent Parliamentary Budget Officer for a full seven-year term, noting the motion had been on notice since September and was tweaked due to recent developments. Several members raised procedural concerns, including that the motion was not on the agenda, that it had been amended without proper notice, and that the nomination of Annette Ryan had already been referred to the finance committee, but the chair ruled the motion receivable and debate continued.
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