Appropriation Bill No. 5, 2017-18
Second Reading
March 28, 2018
The Honorable Senator Diane Bellemare:
moved second reading of Bill C-72, An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018.
She said: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak to Bill C-72 at second reading. I will start with the good and then maybe talk about the bad.
Let me start by thanking my colleagues on the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance for their careful consideration of this bill and for the report that they have tabled in this place. I’m talking about the first report that we just adopted, which was carefully studied and, I think, carefully reported. I will make other comments for the next report that we just adopted.
Bill C-72 is a money bill, as you know, and according to Senate Procedure in Practice, these types of bills refer to, and I quote, “legislative initiatives which contain either appropriation or taxation measures.” This bill pertains to the adoption of Supplementary Estimates (C) for the 2017-18 fiscal year. As my colleagues have said, this bill concludes the 2017-18 budget cycle and the approach taken in the estimates process.
It also marks a departure in how supplementary estimates will be presented, which I will explain more fully in my speech on Bill C-73.
Recently, parliamentarians in the other place passed a motion to amend the Standing Orders regarding the budgetary cycle. I will come back to these reasons in my other speech. For now, I will say that Bill C-72 is the last budget under this estimates process. I remind senators that up until now, the estimates process involved five steps, and Parliament was called upon to vote five times on funding public spending.
The financial cycle generally started in February, with the introduction of the Main Estimates. This document set out the expenditure estimates for all federally funded departments and agencies and was followed by the adoption of two appropriation bills, bills no. 1 and no. 2. The first was passed before April 1, because the fiscal year ends on March 31, and the government could not go without funding for salaries and expenses. The second appropriation bill was passed in June.
Up until now, honourable senators, the process got started in February with the tabling of the Main Estimates, and this document was drafted by the Treasury Board of Canada, based on historical data. The appropriation bills passed before April 1 and in June were based on the Treasury Board’s study of the Main Estimates. In other words, in the Main Estimates the Treasury Board presented the spending estimates for the next fiscal year and only took into account inflation, expenditures related to the system, and fiscal commitments that had already been budgeted. This document preceded the budget speech and therefore did not take into account the government’s budgetary intentions for the year ahead. Accordingly, it did not take into account the budget tabled in March by the Minister of Finance.
That is why, during the year, in addition to the budget and appropriation bills nos. 1 and 2, the Treasury Board tabled three supplementary estimates, (A), (B) and (C), which were also accompanied by appropriation bills nos. 3, 4, and 5. The bill I have introduced at second reading, Bill C-72, is appropriation bill no. 5 and is based on the most recent expenditures to be made and voted before the end of the year.
Today, the Senate Finance Committee presented its report on the study of the Supplementary Estimates (C), which we adopted a few minutes ago and which led to Bill C-72.
I will not repeat the main expenditures in Bill C-72. However, I invite you to read it because these appropriation bills are very different from the others. You will find the details of every budgetary item by department and by organization and according to the type of the expenditure. This bill includes nearly 50 pages and two schedules, and that is what we are asking you to pass, because it has to be passed by both chambers in order to come into force. I ask that you concur in this bill at second reading.