Finance committee  Sir, from our discussions with jurisdictions both provincial and municipal, we understand that there is some fairly detailed progress reporting, and specifically on implementation progress of the various initiatives they're undertaking. From what we've seen, we're not sure whether jobs is a specific indicator, but certainly other attributes associated with progress are detailed in these reports--or at least they're designed to be inputted and received by the government, so that would be our expectation.

Finance committee  Yes, sir. The program has its own guidelines and there are reporting requirements from the recipients back to the government, so the government would be collecting this type of information. Our presumption, then, is that there's an availability of information on the quarterly progress of this program.

Finance committee  Well, sir, we know at least that there was an input period in June and we have specifically asked for the quarterly report. We have not yet received it.

Finance committee  It's our presumption that it exists and has been reported back. Our understanding is that it's part of the program guidelines. But we have not yet received it.

Finance committee  Thanks, Mr. Wallace. Since we received the request in September we've been working pretty diligently on this and working with a number of the members of this committee to get at the details underlying a number of figures. We received a message from the Department of Finance two days ago indicating that they are preparing a response to provide the assumptions underlying the department's costing.

Government Operations committee  In terms of administration of the program, our understanding is that this falls within the rubric of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, so it would be one department administering the program under the policies of the Treasury Board.

Government Operations committee  It depends on the source of the inquiry. It could be from this committee or from other parliamentarians. We might ask the Department of Finance for information we need for economic and fiscal forecasting purposes. To get a better understanding of the implementation of the budget vis-à-vis infrastructure, our request would go directly to the deputy minister at Transport and Infrastructure.

Government Operations committee  As we noted, the United States has had what we consider to be the highest level of disclosure in terms of stimulus reporting, but one of the things we also have written about since last February is that while other jurisdictions don't necessarily report in a different manner, or a heightened manner, for stimulus, they may have more sophisticated quarterly reporting standards that allow parliamentarians in their jurisdiction to maybe have an improved connection between budget and estimates in the context of this committee.

Government Operations committee  Sir, we actually had that discussion with the Office of Management and Budget in the United States. They indicated they have a similar level of complexity in dealing with multiple levels of government, including the county level, which added another level of complexity to their reporting.

Government Operations committee  In our report, the requirement we established was tied to those made by Treasury Board policies. In most cases, the figures are in the submissions to Treasury Board. There is information on the amount, the objective of the project and the expected results. We have advised parliamentarians to concentrate on the type of information that is already available within the system.

Government Operations committee  On the Treasury Board website, there is a guide for the completion of submissions to Treasury Board. We feel that this type of information is very useful and it is available.

Government Operations committee  In our letter to the deputy minister, we asked specific questions about the database in which the department receives information from participants in the infrastructure program. The answer about the participants was obtained in the usual way, in my opinion.

Finance committee  When we look at asset divestiture, the reason additional information is useful is that there is a time lag when you are looking to present for sale and are examining the market opportunities for these assets. As Mr. Page said, this is part of the challenge of trying to book these revenues in the fiscal framework before clear identification.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Laforest. I started in a French immersion program at the age of six. I can work in French. My main responsibility will be to provide analysis and advice on government expenditures, on major projects and on the budget, and to establish a link with the economic situation in order to know how this could influence budget planning and Parliamentarians' choices.