EVIDENCE Standing Committee on Public Accounts NUMBER 007 3rd SESSION 40th PARLIAMENT Thursday, April 1, 2010 Le jeudi er avril Standing Committee on Public Accounts CANADA [Recorded by Electronic Apparatus] EVIDENCE April 1, 2010 Committee Edited Evidence * Table of Contents * Number 007 (Official Version) Official Report * Table of Contents * Number 007 (Official Version) Témoignages * Table des matières * Numéro 007 (Version officielle) 07 01 04 2010 2010/04/01 09:00:00 House of Commons Comité permanent des comptes publics Standing Committee on Public Accounts PACP Chair The Honourable Shawn Murphy 40 PUBLIC PART ONLY -

PARTIE PUBLIQUE SEULEMENT (0900) [ English ] The Chair (Hon. Shawn Murphy (Charlottetown, Lib.)) : We'll call the meeting to order. It is nine o'clock. I want to welcome everyone here. First of all, I want to say that the meeting has been called for in camera but we will open in public to deal with the minutes of the steering committee. Those minutes have been circulated. I'll just highlight them. They're fairly brief. The steering committee has recommended to this committee that “Chapter 8--Strengthening the Aid--Canadian International Development Agency”...

As you will recall, we did have a hearing on this, but it was extremely abbreviated arising from the fact of those votes. We only had about 45 minutes. The steering committee is recommending that one additional hour be allocated to that for the further examination of witnesses. The second issue that's coming before this committee from the steering committee is that, as you are all aware, there is a major international peer review being carried out on our Office of the Auditor General. We expect that to be completed in June. We are recommending to the committee that we have a hearing.

We are looking at the possibility of the two leads... This is an international event. They come from different countries, but the leads are from the country of Australia, and we are pursuing the option of having it done by teleconference after the report is tabled. However, since the report is not being tabled in June, it's unlikely this will be done prior to our break. It will probably more likely be done in September or October of this year. Also, with the minutes of the steering committee you will have attached to that a draft agenda, moving forward. The first is draft reports.

When we come back after break, we're dealing with a performance report, “Selecting Foreign Workers under the Immigration Program”, from the fall report of the Auditor General, draft reports. The week of the 20th, colleagues, is devoted entirely to the tabling of the auditor's spring report, and then on the 22nd we will have a public meeting dealing with all those chapters. On the 27th we're going to deal with her main estimates, her report on plans and priorities, her departmental reports--back to draft reports.

Then on the next page, dealing with May, on the fourth we're talking about evaluating the effectiveness of programs--two meetings, a draft report. Of course this could all change, depending on how things move along. Then we're going to deal with departmental performance reports, Industry and Transport, on the 13th, and that's it. Of course we don't have the June tentative agenda. Mr. Andrew Saxton (North Vancouver, CPC) : Mr. Chair, can you tell us which of these meetings would be televised? The Chair : That's not something I have control over. We could put requests in. Mr.

Andrew Saxton : Have you put any requests in? The Chair : I always put a request in, Mr. Saxton, for the one on the 22nd. That would be one I expect to be televised, but it's up to the committee. And we could do the estimates too. Okay. Are there any other questions or comments on either the minutes or the draft agenda? Mr. Bev Shipley (Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, CPC) : I'd like to make a comment. I don't know who makes these up, whether it's a standard format, but I find them really difficult to follow. I don't know why we want to make them so complicated, when actually we could just go down and do them off.

Maybe it's just me, but I see them on other ones. Mr. Terence Young (Oakville, CPC) : If you look at the front page, it says 12, 13. Then it says 19, 20, 26, 27. It's hard to read. The Chair : Those are weeks. Mr. Terence Young : So why doesn't it say week number 12? Why doesn't it say April 13? The Chair : It's April 12. Mr. Bev Shipley : It's just a logistic thing. Mr. Terence Young : No, it's important. I look at these things and-- Mr. Andrew Saxton : Mr. Chair, is it possible to put the abbreviated month before each number?

(0905) The Chair : I still have to take your comments and try to make them up. Mr. Bev Shipley : It's just a comment. Mr. Terence Young : No, I would ask him to change it, make it easier to read. The Chair : Anything else? Okay, the chair will accept a motion for the approval of the minutes of the steering committee. An hon. member: So moved. (Motion agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings ] The Chair: Okay, now we suspend and go in camera. [ Proceedings continue in camera ]