Environment committee  Indeed, our advisors, especially former parliamentarians, have told us that this was a question that, in their view, deserves to be raised with the committee so that it can say whether or not it is an issue that should be considered.

Environment committee  We don't proceed by votes, but I would say that most of them were indeed of the view that this was an issue that we should raise in committee.

Environment committee  What is unfortunate is that we really did start this as a consultation process. No hard, fast decision has been made, and we wanted to come before the committee to consult. One of the advantages that we saw was reporting more frequently throughout the year—not to have one report at the beginning of the year in September, but to have reports in October, April, and possibly in February.

Environment committee  I do have a bit of a breakdown. I caution that this may not be a perfect measure. I would say that the reports from the Office of the Auditor General average somewhere around 45% to 50%—which we find unacceptable and have been trying to improve. On the commissioner's report, the rate of implementation since the beginning is certainly under 20% and might even be under 15%.

Environment committee  I suspect that some of it may be due to the recommendations themselves. They may be too general and not specific enough. Some of it may be because of the kinds of areas we looked at. Quite frankly, some of it may just be due to a lack of commitment to deal with some of these issues.

Environment committee  Would you like me to...? I have the act with me, if you would like me to quote what the actual—

Environment committee  That's a question that we're raising in committee. Would there be grounds for considering that? We submit that question to your attention. It's not up to me to say whether you should do it or not. It's really up to parliamentarians to decide whether this is a question that should be examined in greater detail.

Environment committee  As I said earlier, it's very important that the audit function remain independent. We cannot give advice on policy development on the one hand, and audit those same policies on the other. Those are incompatible roles. The auditor's role must be independent, and a role of advising on policy and program evaluation is something else.

Environment committee  I cannot answer the specifics, but what I will say is that everything I said yesterday I believe to be true.

Environment committee  The initial draft of the bill would have had us, the Office of the Auditor General, conducting both of those functions. That is why we came back to the committee to say that this was an issue for us and it would be a problem for us. We have worked with the member to modify the bill so that policy advice and evaluation would no longer be done by the Office of the Auditor General and the commissioner.

Environment committee  Based on The Globe and Mail reports at 12:59, I would have to answer yes, but I can only surmise from newspaper articles and certain information that is attributed to certain members of the committee. But those are also available to the chair and to others, so I do not think it would be appropriate for me to get into that.

Environment committee  That is correct.

Environment committee  Essentially, yes. We can't do program evaluation. The act states very clearly that we can audit whether departments and agencies have put measures in place to conduct evaluations, but we don't conduct the program evaluations. We examine the systems, management methods, to determine whether the government is acting as it has undertaken to do.

Environment committee  And that it does it in an efficient, effective and economic manner, and in accordance with the laws, of course.

Environment committee  Obviously, the Commissioner's mandate will depend on what Parliament tells the Commissioner to do. The Commissioner's present role is more like that of the Auditor General. Ultimately, the Commissioner must comply with certain provisions of the act, but the other duties, as well as the audits that the Commissioner tables in Parliament, depend on the mandate given to the Auditor General.