Government Operations committee  It depends on whether it's above or below the lifetime capital gains exemption or the inclusion rate of 50% for the first $250,000. One would have to look at the specifics of that situation.

Government Operations committee  Yes, there was some additional money in the budget for supplementing the program. I think it is $605 million in these supplementary estimates to make the subsidies for zero-emission vehicles available to more people—to meet demand, essentially. That's a result of the fact that we have seen new zero-emission vehicle registrations go from less than 20,000 in 2017 to reach almost 185,000 last year, which is expected to be even higher this year as a result of more widespread adoption of zero-emission vehicles in Canada.

Government Operations committee  I accept your thanks.

Government Operations committee  The fuel charge and the output-based pricing system, when both are included, yes, that still stands, but—

Government Operations committee  That's it.

Government Operations committee  It's a bit early to be definitive about that, but based on the current year-to-date trend, I would say that the authorities suggest that it will be difficult. It's still possible to reduce spending on professional and special services, but the authorities, to date, suggest that departments will have authorities to spend close to, or even above, what was spent in 2022-23.

Government Operations committee  Given that the mandate will be binding on manufacturers and importers due to regulations, we expect the targets set by the government to be met so that there will be no new internal combustion vehicles by 2035. So far, efforts in this regard have been voluntary. Given that regulations will be binding from now on, we expect the proportion of new zero-emission vehicles to reach 20% in 2026, gradually rising to 40%, then 60%, and finally reaching 100%.

Government Operations committee  We haven't made any projections in terms of spending, because given the binding mandate for vehicles to be imported or sold, manufacturers may no longer need subsidies as much. So it wouldn't be necessary to have both at the same time. If there is a binding mandate, subsidies may no longer be necessary.

Government Operations committee  Just so we're clear, you're talking about professional and special services, right?

Government Operations committee  We operate on a macro approach, i.e., we look at the data included in the main and supplementary budgets, which gives us an overview of overall authorizations. If we want a more precise breakdown, we can ask for it during the year, hoping to get that data.

Government Operations committee  I share these concerns because the budget indicates that they'll be reducing the number of FTEs in the public service by 5,000 over four years by attrition. However, the budget also has a number of measures that are reasonably expected to require more public servants, so it will mean that there will be more reductions in certain sectors to make room for this increase in some areas while also reducing the aggregate size by 5,000, or that there will not be any reduction at all.

Government Operations committee  It would probably, absent reductions in other areas to compensate for that. I'd add that, based on historical results where departmental plans indicated a reduction to come in their overall number of employees, we have seen instead increases. That's what I'm basing my assessment on.

Government Operations committee  It's either cuts to the public service or reductions in other areas if the government is to meet its fiscal targets.

Government Operations committee  We haven't yet. We're in the information-gathering stage. We sent information requests to the Canada Revenue Agency. We are waiting for that data, but we are planning on doing that as soon as we get data that we can use.

Government Operations committee  Logically, it could be about the same, eight out of 10. That said, it depends on the profile of people specific to your riding.