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Present a personal reflection by answering the following question: what idea(s) the readings of the week have inspired you?

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The goal is to present a personal reflection, which goes beyond the material presented in the readings. Do not submit an abstract. If you do, your assignment will be given a score of zero (0).

Your reflection (ideas) can relate to the readings of the week as a whole or to a specific theme covered by the readings. You can also, if you want, take inspiration from current events, provided that it is related to one of the themes covered in the readings of the week.

Remember that this course is about fiscal policy and public finance. Your reflection must therefore focus on a budgetary or financial issue relating to the public sector.

Your text should be 250 words in length (no more than 275 words, no less than 225 words).

Don’t forget to write your name on your essay.

The grade assigned to each short is “Pass” (1 point) or “Fail” (0 point).

you will deliver two word doc for this two article (one word doc for one article)


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In the Canadian federation, pandemic response is hyper-local
2023-01-10 11:29
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The stringency of COVID-19 measures varies wildly across the
country. But is that a compelling reason to centralize the
pandemic response?
by Paisley Sim, Charles Breton
November 26, 2020
SHARE



This article has been translated into French.
Despite having markedly lower COVID-19 death rates than most G7
nations, Canada is on track to record 20,000 COVID-19 cases a day
across all age groups by the end of December. A growing chorus of
pundits are calling for the federal government to compel the

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provinces to adopt a more stringent pandemic response. The idea
is that invoking greater federal control – particularly as we enter
the winter months – could help stem the rising second wave.
These interventionists argue that a national response with clear,
systematic health and lockdown guidelines should overwrite the
current mixed-bag of provincial policy responses. The federal
government could provide greater clarity to citizens and provincial
health authorities around containment measures and step up to
the plate in the country’s time of need.
While some see the decentralized federation as a bug, others see it
as a feature. Those who stand behind the current system point out
that a national response won’t be as attentive to the situation on
the ground. Federalism permits each province to enact policies
based on the local context.
But has this actually happened?
Since March, the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation
has been tracking Canadian policy responses to the pandemic with
the goal of measuring the variations in stringency between the
provinces. Our data demonstrates that COVID-19 may be a global
pandemic, but the variations in local restrictions makes people’s
lived experience quite different.
The Stringency Index
To capture provincial confinement and public restriction
measures, we followed the team at Oxford University’s COVID-19
Government Response Tracker, who have been tracking the
different approaches taken by countries since the beginning of the
pandemic. Our focus is on measures within provinces’ control.
Table 1 outlines what policies we measured and how we coded
them. For each policy we also accounted for whether it applied
province-wide or is targeted. We then followed the Oxford group in
calculating a stringency index, coding each province’s policy
environment based on these eight measures.

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Table 1
Government COVID-19 policies and coding scheme
Measure
Coding
Public gatherings
0 – no restrictions
1 – permit gatherings above 500 people
2 – permit gatherings between 251-500
3 – permit gatherings between 51-250
4 – permit gatherings between 11-50
5 – gatherings limited to 10 people or fewer
Masks in schools
0 – no restrictions
1 – suggested, but not required
2 – required for students (typically grades 4+) but not in all settings
3 – required for students (typically grades 4+) in all settings
Masks in public space
0 – no restrictions
1 – suggested, but not required
2 – required in all indoor public spaces
3 – required in all indoor public spaces, legally enforced
4 – required in all indoor and outdoor spaces, legally enforced
Restaurants
0 – no restrictions (restaurants open)
1 – partial closures
2 – full closure
Schools
0 – no restrictions (schools open)
1 – partial closures
2 – full closure
Non-essential business
0 – no restrictions (non-essential businesses open)
1 – partial closures
2 – full closure
Intra-provincial travel
0 – no restrictions (permit intra-provincial travel)
1- restrict intra-provincial travel
Inter-provincial travel
0 – no restrictions (permit inter-provincial travel)
1- restrict inter-provincial travel
Though this is not an exhaustive list of public health measures in
place, we believe they do give an accurate picture of the relative
stringency across the country. To better show how these measures
map on to a particular provincial context, Figure 1 displays how
stringent measures are in each province in relation to the average
number of cases over the last five reporting days (cases per
100,000) and how these have evolved just over the last week. The
clear dots show Nov. 18 and the solid dots show Nov. 25.

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Figure 1
Evolution of Stringency of Provincial Covid−19 Measures and Cases between November 18 to 25, 2020
Source: Covid-19 case data from Berry I, Soucy J-PR, Tuite A, Fisman D. Open access epidemiologic data and an interactive dashboard to monitor the COVID-19 outbreak in Can
CMAJ. 2020 Apr 14;192(15):E420. doi: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.75262. Stringency index calculated by authors following the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker’s
methodology, see: https://github.com/OxCGRT/covid-policy-tracker/blob/master/documentation/codebook.md
Note that our analysis is purely descriptive and does not represent
a causal claim about degrees of stringency and caseload trends.
Some provinces and territories have decided to remain at a
medium level of stringency even without many cases per capita –
most of the Atlantic provinces, for example.
Other provinces have opted for a less stringent approach even with
comparatively higher caseloads (Alberta and Saskatchewan). Until
mid-November, Nunavut and Manitoba were also part of this latter
group, but have substantially ramped up restrictions as cases have
increased.
For some, Figure 1 demonstrates exactly why the federal
government should play a bigger role, and that provinces like
Alberta and Saskatchewan should be forced to strengthen
measures and reach levels of stringency comparable to provinces
with similar cases per capita.

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But it is important to note that this index only offers a partial
snapshot of the reality on the ground. Some provinces have left it to
municipalities to bring in more stringent public health measures
using local bylaws. Mask-wearing in public spaces is one such
example.
Whereas Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia require
masks to be worn in all public spaces, Alberta and Yukon do not.
Mask mandates in B.C. and P.E.I. were introduced less than a week
ago. Despite this, the majority of Albertans find themselves living
in a situation that is somewhat similar to that experienced by most
Quebecers. Both Calgary and Edmonton have municipal bylaws
mandating public mask-use.
While some provinces may not have enacted policies as stringent
as others, most city-dwellers find themselves living with similar
restrictions. Figure 2 shows how some of Canada’s major cities
compare to provinces on the stringency index.

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2023-01-10 11:29
Figure 2
Covid−19 Measures Stringency Index Including Cities, as of Nov. 25
Source: Stringency index calculated by authors following the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker’s methodology, see: https://github.com/OxCGRT/covid-policytracker/blob/master/documentation/codebook.md
Regional variation hasn’t been without confusion
Tailoring response to the local context is not without its pitfalls,
however. Since the spring, provinces have created regional zones
and colour-coded response levels that are meant to match
variations in caseloads across regions. One by-product of this
approach has been to create some confusion both within provinces
and across provinces. A snapshot of how the least restrictive
“green zones” vary across Canada captures how this targeted
approach may generate confusion and bolster the call for unified
national guidelines.
In Manitoba, to reach green (“limited risk”) a vaccine and effective
treatment would have to be available. In Ontario, green (“prevent”)
still requires masks to be worn in most indoor spaces and limits
public gatherings to 100 people. New Brunswick will go to green

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2023-01-10 11:29
after a vaccine and herd immunity or effective clinical treatment is
available, or more is learned about how to protect people from the
virus. And in Quebec green (vigilance) still limits bar capacity to 50
per cent, prohibits dancing, and limits private indoor gatherings to
10 people. Today, no provincial zone is in green or at the lowest
stringency level.
With provinces starting from such divergent baselines, could new
standards communicated from Ottawa easily overwrite that of
provincial leaders? Probably not. Public health officials and leaders
have all had problems communicating these different measures
within their own province. There is little reason to believe that the
federal government wouldn’t further muddy the waters.
But that does not mean that more intergovernmental coordination
aimed at providing a more unified and clearer public message is
not possible. The German example here could be useful. German
federal and Länder (state) governments have shifted from the
policy asymmetry that had characterized their response last spring
to a more coordinated approach aimed at unifying their response
to the pandemic. But even there, some level of variation has
remained. Paying attention to context will likely make a one-sizefits all approach less than ideal to implement.
As second-wave caseloads mount, calls for the federal government
to step up have intuitive appeal. But in practice, federal intrusion
in health care would blur the lines of accountability and see Ottawa
operating outside of its depth with little promise of better
outcomes. The decentralized nature of our federation and norms of
intergovernmental collaboration resist change.
Appreciating that the lived experience of the pandemic has been
hyper-local should ground pandemic responses. Before the
pandemic, only 19 per cent of Canadians favoured transferring
greater decision-making power from the provinces or territories to
the federal government. COVID-19 may go on to change people’s
views on centralization, but our current reality is that provincedriven pandemic responses are local and would be slow to adapt to
an approach led from Ottawa. Rather than upending provincial
authority, the federal government should work within existing
frameworks to explore conditional fiscal transfers and lead the
discussion on possible inter-provincial travel restrictions.

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2023-01-10 11:29
A clear separation of powers and responsibility has defined the
Canadian pandemic response, highlighting an important feature:
accountability. Canadians in every province know who is
responsible for ramping up (or not) health measures: their
provincial government. In the end, it’s those governments that will
have to face the music post-pandemic.
Do you have something to say about the article you just read? Be part of the Policy
Options discussion, and send in your own submission, or a letter to the editor.
Paisley Sim
Paisley Sim is a Research
Associate at the Institute for
Research on Public Policy. Her
experience includes working
for former Alberta premier
Rachel Notley and as special
adviser to Alberta’s minister of
justice. She holds a Master of
Public Policy from McGill
University.
You are welcome to republish this Policy
Options article online or in print
periodicals, under a Creative
Commons/No Derivatives licence.
REPUBLISH THIS ARTICLE
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Charles Breton
Charles Breton is the executive
director of the Centre of
Excellence on the Canadian
Federation at the Institute for
Research on Public Policy
(IRPP) and the former
research director at Vox Pop
Labs. He holds a PhD from the
University of British Columbia.
Follow him on Twitter:
@charlesbreton
View all by this author

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FUNDING NEW GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES:
FROM ANNOUNCEMENT TO MONEY ALLOCATION
Publication No. 2021-32-E
7 October 2021
Raphaëlle Deraspe
Parliamentary Information, Education and Research Services
AUTHORSHIP
Date
7 October 2021
Author
Raphaëlle Deraspe
Division
Economics, Resources
and International Affairs Division
ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION
Library of Parliament HillStudies provide in-depth studies of policy issues. They feature historical
background, current information and references, and often anticipate the emergence of the issues
they examine. They are prepared by Parliamentary Information, Education and Research Services,
which carries out research for and provides information and analysis to parliamentarians and
Senate and House of Commons committees and parliamentary associations in an objective,
impartial manner.
This publication was prepared as part of the Library of Parliament’s research publications
program, which includes a set of publications, introduced in March 2020, addressing the COVID-19
pandemic.
© Library of Parliament, Ottawa, Canada, 2022
Funding New Government Initiatives:
From Announcement to Money Allocation
(HillStudies)
Publication No. 2021-32-E
Ce document est également publié en français.
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………………………………1
2
BUDGET PROCESS…………………………………………………………………………………………………3
3
CABINET APPROVAL ………………………………………………………………………………………………3
4
TREASURY BOARD APPROVAL……………………………………………………………………………….4
5
PARLIAMENTARY APPROVAL………………………………………………………………………………….5
6
FUNDING FLOWS TO DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES …………………………………………….6
i
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
New government initiatives are announced through different sources, including the
Speech from the Throne, the federal budget, international agreements,
federal–provincial-territorial agreements, ministerial mandate letters and ministerial
proposals. However, before a new initiative receives funding, approvals from
Cabinet, the Treasury Board and Parliament are needed.
This paper describes these approvals along with the role of the central agencies
involved in this process – the Privy Council Office, the Department of Finance
Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat – and the role of Parliament.
A budget initiative is selected as an example; the allocation of funds for this initiative
is followed in the estimates, and actual spending is followed in the Public Accounts
of Canada.
ii
FUNDING NEW GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES:
FROM ANNOUNCEMENT TO MONEY ALLOCATION
1
INTRODUCTION
New government initiatives or substantive modifications to existing government
programs originate from or are announced through different sources, including the
Speech from the Throne, the federal budget, international agreements,
federal–provincial-territorial agreements, ministerial mandate letters and ministerial
proposals. The departments and agencies, in collaboration with their ministers,
develop new initiatives and modify existing programs according to the government’s
priorities, policies and plans.
Before funds are allocated to departments and agencies to implement new initiatives
or to change existing programs, a series of three approvals is usually needed, one
each from Cabinet, 1 the Treasury Board (TB) and Parliament. This paper describes
each of these approvals along with the role of the central agencies involved in this
process: the Privy Council Office (PCO), the Department of Finance Canada and the
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS). 2 Figure 1 presents the approval process
for new government initiatives.
1
FUNDING NEW GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES:
FROM ANNOUNCEMENT TO MONEY ALLOCATION
Figure 1 – Process for Approving New Government Initiatives
Source:
Figure prepared by the Library of Parliament.
2
FUNDING NEW GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES:
FROM ANNOUNCEMENT TO MONEY ALLOCATION
2
BUDGET PROCESS
Several initiatives and changes to existing programs are announced in the federal
budget, which is developed by the Department of Finance Canada. The minister of
finance asks other ministers to send proposals to be considered for inclusion in the
upcoming budget. 3 With support from their respective departments and agencies,
ministers usually prepare and submit a budget letter in the fall to request the creation
of new initiatives or to modify existing programs. The minister of finance and the
prime minister review the proposals and decide which ones will be included in the
upcoming budget, usually presented in the winter. 4
One example of an initiative that has followed the typical budget process is the
Smart Cities Challenge 5 Fund. This fund was announced in Budget 2017 and
provided the Office of Infrastructure Canada with $300 million over 11 years for
transfer payments to cities, in order to encourage better city planning and to
implement clean, digitally connected technology in buildings and infrastructures,
among other things. 6
Even if an initiative is announced in a budget, to obtain the funds, organizations
usually need Cabinet and/or TB approval before they seek parliamentary approval,
and this is done through the supply or estimates process. 7
Following the budget, the government presents budget implementation bills – usually
one in the spring and one in the fall – for budget initiatives that require legislative
changes, such as changes in taxation. Parliament reviews these bills, then decides
whether or not to adopt them.
3
CABINET APPROVAL
New initiatives or significant changes to an existing program must first receive policy
approval from Cabinet; this is usually obtained by submitting a Memorandum to
Cabinet (MC). An MC is prepared by the relevant department(s) or agency(ies) in
consultation with the relevant minister(s) to seek a Cabinet decision on a new
initiative proposal, make substantive changes to an existing program or bring issues
forward. The main components of an MC are the ministerial recommendations; they
provide an overview of the issue, the minister’s recommendations, the funding
requirements, the rationale for proceeding, alternative options, the recommended
policy approach and other considerations, such as Official Languages Act
requirements and gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) results. They also include a
section on due diligence which states that the sponsoring department’s chief financial
officer has reviewed the MC and attests to the information it contains on the
financial, asset and human resource implications of the proposed and alternative
options. Lastly, the MC contains three annexes: the implementation plan, the strategic
communications plan and the parliamentary plan. 8
3
FUNDING NEW GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES:
FROM ANNOUNCEMENT TO MONEY ALLOCATION
PCO supports the prime minister and the Cabinet decision-making process. As such,
PCO helps departments and agencies prepare MCs and other departmental
submissions; it challenges their proposals to ensure they follow the government’s
policy direction. It also ensures the coherent and consistent implementation of
Cabinet decisions across government. In addition to PCO, the Department of Finance
Canada and TBS also assist departments and agencies by helping to identify potential
policy, fiscal and implementation issues with the initiative before an MC is presented
to a Cabinet committee. 9
Usually, ministers present the MC to the appropriate Cabinet committee and its
member ministers for discussion. There are two types of Cabinet committees: policy
committees that consider proposals aimed at implementing the government’s agenda,
parliamentary business and other matters of general concern to the government, and
executive committees to confirm the decisions made by policy committees, consider
items of special urgency and political issues, and review senior appointments. 10
A Cabinet committee can ask the minister to revise the MC and include an update, an
evaluation or a more detailed proposal and return it to Cabinet. An MC can be fully
approved, approved with conditions, postponed or rejected. Once the Cabinet policy
committee has reached a consensus and has issued a Cabinet Committee
Recommendation, an executive committee chaired by the prime minister, the
TB Committee or the full Cabinet must confirm the decision. 11 However, when the
initiative is modified after being approved by Cabinet, the sponsoring minister must
return to Cabinet with a revised MC.
The MC and Cabinet decisions are confidential; it is therefore impossible to examine
the Cabinet process and the approval of a selected initiative.
If the MC is approved, the sponsoring department must usually identify a source of
funding for the initiative and prepare a TB submission to obtain TB approval.
4
TREASURY BOARD APPROVAL
After Cabinet has approved an initiative, the sponsoring department or agency must
prepare a TB submission seeking spending authority from the TB ministers to
implement the initiative. A TB submission usually includes details of the initiative’s
design, delivery and implementation approach. It also identifies its policy goals,
expected results, funding requirements and total costs, source of funding, potential
risks and risk mitigation strategies, and it considers Indigenous peoples, official
languages and GBA+ results. 12
TBS provides advice and makes recommendations to the TB Committee on how the
government spends money, how it manages programs and services, and how it
develops and implements policies, directives, regulations and orders in council.
4
FUNDING NEW GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES:
FROM ANNOUNCEMENT TO MONEY ALLOCATION
TBS also helps departments and agencies prepare TB submissions; it has both a
challenge function and an oversight role. It ensures that submissions meet quality
standards, demonstrate value for money and include all required elements before they
are reviewed by the TB Committee. 13
When TBS receives a draft TB submission, it first ensures that the department or
agency has secured a source of funding for the initiative. Funding can come from the
budget, existing government funds (known as the fiscal framework), an internal
reallocation of funds or other sources. Then, TBS reviews the submission and provides
feedback to the sponsoring department or agency through an iterative process until
they agree on the submission. 14 Next, TBS prepares a précis that summarizes the
department’s or agency’s submission, a risk assessment and mitigation strategies, a
costing analysis and a recommendation to the TB to approve, not approve, or approve
with conditions the proposals presented in the TB submission. 15
Finally, submissions and cases are presented to TB by senior TBS officials rather
than by the sponsoring ministers like in other Cabinet committees. 16 The TB
Committee can fully approve, approve with conditions, defer the decision or reject a
submission. It usually takes several months to process a TB submission.
As in the Cabinet process, TB documents and decisions are confidential. It is
therefore impossible to examine the TB process and approval of a selected initiative.
5
PARLIAMENTARY APPROVAL
The government cannot spend funds without the approval of Parliament. The
government seeks this approval by presenting supply bills that become appropriation
acts once approved.
Before the presentation of supply bills, TBS prepares main and supplementary
estimates, and the departments and agencies develop departmental plans to help
parliamentarians understand and scrutinize the government’s spending plans. The
Treasury Board president tables these documents in the House of Commons. The
main estimates present the government’s spending plans and the departments’ and
agencies’ funding requests for the upcoming fiscal year starting 1 April; they must be
tabled no later than 1 March. Departmental plans accompany the main estimates and
provide details about how the departments and agencies plan to use the requested
funds and what results are expected in the upcoming year. They are usually tabled
shortly after the main estimates, but they do not have a set deadline.
Departments and agencies typically have three opportunities to request additional
funding for new initiatives or unforeseen events through supplementary estimates,
presented in May, November and February. Although budget initiatives are usually
presented in supplementary estimates, funding for the Smart Cities Challenge Fund
5
FUNDING NEW GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES:
FROM ANNOUNCEMENT TO MONEY ALLOCATION
was first requested in the 2018–19 Main Estimates. 17 In these main estimates, the
Office of Infrastructure Canada requested $6.25 million in grants and $2 million in
contributions under Vote 10 for that fund.
The votes contained in the main and supplementary estimates are funding requests
referred to parliamentary committees for review before Parliament adopts the
appropriation bills. On 16 April 2018, Vote 10 under the Office of Infrastructure of
Canada was referred to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport,
Infrastructure and Communities. 18 On 23 May 2018, the committee held a meeting on
the 2018–19 Main Estimates and heard from the minister of Infrastructure and
Communities along with officials from the Office of Infrastructure Canada. 19 On
4 June 2018, the chair of the committee reported back to the House of Commons on
Vote 10 under the Office of Infrastructure of Canada without any changes. 20
On 21 June 2018, Parliament approved a total of $3.1 billion for Vote 10 under the
Office of Infrastructure Canada, which included the requested allocation of
$6.25 million and $2 million for the Smart Cities Challenge Fund through the
approval of Bill C-80, An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for
the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019. 21
6
FUNDING FLOWS TO DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
After appropriation bills are approved by Parliament, departments and agencies can
begin to spend public funds up to the amount approved, but not more than what was
approved. After the fiscal year ends, the government publishes the Public Accounts of
Canada to present its actual spending against the amounts approved by Parliament.
Since the funds are allocated under large votes that include various items, it is often
not possible to know how much an organization spent on a single initiative. However,
departments and agencies report the actual amount spent on grants and contributions
in the Public Accounts of Canada. For example, in the Public Accounts of Canada
2019, the Office of Infrastructure Canada reported that in 2018, it used $5 million to
allocate grants and $2 million to allocate contributions under the Smart Cities
Challenge Fund. 22
NOTES
1.
Cabinet is formed by ministers who are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime
minister. The ministers are members of Parliament who belong to the party in power in the House of
Commons; the ministers can also be senators. The role of Cabinet is to advise the prime minister and
make decisions on government policy, legislation, priorities and initiatives. Cabinet must also approve new
or major policy changes that seek new funding or policy authority for an initiative, or that propose a new or
modified policy or program. See Government of Canada, Background on Government and Portfolio
Processes – Ministerial Briefing – Volume VI.
6
FUNDING NEW GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES:
FROM ANNOUNCEMENT TO MONEY ALLOCATION
2.
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat is the administrative branch of the Treasury Board of Canada.
3.
The budget presents the government priorities, policies and plans as agreed to by Cabinet. It also
announces new spending initiatives and tax measures along with forecasted economic conditions for the
upcoming year. Although there is no requirement for the presentation of a budget, one is usually presented
in February or March. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister of finance decided not to present a
budget in 2020.
4.
Government of Canada, Machinery of Government.
5.
Infrastructure Canada, Smart Cities Challenge.
6.
Department of Finance Canada, Building a Strong Middle Class, Budget 2017, p. 118.
7.
Government of Canada, Federal budget process.
8.
Privy Council Office, A Drafter’s Guide to Cabinet Documents, 2013.
9.
Ibid., p. 18.
10.
Government of Canada, Background on Government and Portfolio Processes – Ministerial Briefing –
Volume VI.
11.
The Treasury Board is an executive committee and the only statutory Cabinet committee established
under the Financial Administration Act. It is usually chaired by the Treasury Board president. The prime
minister also appoints a vice-chair along with a minimum of four additional ministers. The Treasury Board
reviews and approves proposals related to expenditures, personnel, procurement, transfer payments and
information technology projects. It is also responsible for funding allocations to departments and agencies
for programs and approving regulations and orders in council, excluding appointments. See Government
of Canada, Machinery of Government.
12.
Government of Canada, Treasury Board Submissions; and Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat,
Guidance for Drafters of Treasury Board Submissions.
13.
Government of Canada, Service and Quality Standards to Support TB Submission Reviews.
14.
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, TBS Program Sector Machinery: how to support change,
24 October 2019, p. 5.
15.
Government of Canada, Three Phases of the TB Submission Process.
16.
Government of Canada, The Business of the Treasury Boa