Government Operations committee  These adjustments were done from year to year. We have price adjustments, on what we call these entries, systematically, if we can make our case, and we've always been able to make our case and get a price adjustment. The one entry that is a new variable is the economic action plan; there's no question there.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. On the first segment of your question, I would say that it hasn't happened—I'm going by memory here—that the minister would ask me to meet with someone. Now, my office may be approached by the minister's office; that is a possibility. The department has a number of points of entry.

Government Operations committee  Thank you. Thank you for the question, and thank you for your good words. I appreciate them, and my staff appreciates them. Let's talk about the main estimates adjustments, if I can call them that, and more specifically the $456 million, which you rightfully single out as being a substantial amount of money.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to appear before this committee to discuss the Main Estimates of Public Works and Government Services Canada. I would first like to introduce the people who are with me today: my Associate Deputy Minister Andrew Treusch, and Alex Lakroni, who is Chief Financial Officer.

Public Accounts committee  No comment.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Rob. Mr. Chairman, I touched on this at the beginning. Before I get into the specifics of the lessons learned out of this audit, because there are a number, let me say that the department is in continuous improvement on procurements. We don't start and end. Every time we do a procurement and we find a nugget that allows us to go more quickly and be more effective, with value for the taxpayer, being open, fair, and transparent, we will use it.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, I would like to second that.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, it is not necessarily exactly the same process. The process may vary. I am repeating myself to some extent, but we have the tool kit approach. For example, in English, we talk about a letter of interest, SOIQ, statement of interest and qualifications...

Public Accounts committee  To my knowledge, this is not on our Web site. These are internal mechanisms. The lessons learned approach was shared by major project procurement officers. We also have made various changes to our procurement manual that provides guidelines on the process to follow for acquisitions.

Public Accounts committee  I will make a brief comment on this and then look to my colleague at National Defence. When we talk about the work done by the Office of the Auditor General, the key element with regard to emergency was time. So, normally, this kind of acquisition would take between 12 and 19 months, or more or less a year or a year and a half.

Public Accounts committee  I do not know whether there is such a document within the department. This is an observation made by the Auditor General with regard to Treasury Board, in other words, whether within its policies, there is a measure setting out when we can request an exemption for emergency projects.

Public Accounts committee  We focused our efforts on making those purchases and providing the equipment on an emergency basis, and adopting best practices, which has been successful.

Public Accounts committee  I do not have a specific policy with regard to emergency purchases by the department.

Public Accounts committee  I have a few comments. Everyone is looking at each other so I will speak. First, Mr. Chair, I do not know the number of purchases considered to be urgent. I will verify, but we do not have a category allowing us to identify the proportion. Now, we can put this together if you wish.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am very pleased to appear before you today with my counterparts from TBS and DND as part of your study of the Auditor General's Fall 2009 report, in particular, the chapter on Acquiring Military Vehicles for Use in Afghanistan. As the Auditor General Office observed, PWGSC provided, together with DND, urgently needed vehicles to the Canadian Forces in three of the four projects examined, with the projects being completed in months rather than years.