Public Accounts committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, and thank you very much. Thank you for inviting us to appear before the committee today to discuss the two reports that we tabled in the House of Commons on June 9, 2011. Mr. Chairman, you indicated that this is the sixth meeting of the committee in

Public Accounts committee  That is correct, Mr. Chairman. The evidence we saw indicates that this was done for reasons of expediency, but I would indicate that in a situation like this I'm not sure it's appropriate for expediency to trump the proper reporting of information to Parliament and transparency i

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chairman, as I indicated in my opening statement, and as the report indicates, no documentation exists in the federal government to indicate how the 32 projects were selected from the 200-and-some that were submitted. Once those projects were selected and approved by the mini

Public Accounts committee  As I indicated, Mr. Chairman, once the projects were selected and handed over to Infrastructure Canada, Infrastructure Canada officials did a good job in administering those projects and ensuring that the government received what it paid for under those agreements. The issue of c

Public Accounts committee  As a result of documentation that subsequently was made public, Mr. Chairman, I have become aware of documentation that had its origins in municipal governments. We've reviewed that documentation and continue to stand behind the conclusion of our report, which is that public serv

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chairman, I'd have to go back and check every single recommendation we ever issued. In recent history—and I would define that as my 30-some years in the office—I cannot think of an analogous example where information was presented in the estimates in one fashion when the inte

Public Accounts committee  As a normal part of our practice, Mr. Chairman, with every report we issue we ask for the deputy minister's confirmation that the facts presented in the report are accurate. We received those confirmations from the deputy ministers working in the departments that were involved wi

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chairman, in terms of explaining how the funding levels are determined, that's probably a question best posed to government. When we inquired how the amount of this fund was established at $50 million, relative to similar examples, we were not able to get a clear explanation

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chairman, public servants were involved in supporting the minister in a number of meetings. Public servants indicated to us, and that was confirmed by the documentation, that they were not involved in the selection of the projects. I continue to believe that was the case. I s

Public Accounts committee  The member is quite correct, Mr. Chairman, in indicating that this is not the same as the sponsorship program. In this particular case, as I indicated in response to earlier questions, it is clear that the government received the goods and services it paid for. It got what it pai

Public Accounts committee  I guess there are two parts to that question, Mr. Chairman. In terms of intent to mislead, did we see any evidence that anyone deliberately intended to mislead Parliament with respect to the request for the $50 million of funding? No. But as I indicated earlier, I think question

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chairman, the member is quite correct in distinguishing grants from contributions. At the risk of oversimplifying it, a grant is moneys disbursed by the government with basically no terms or conditions and no strings attached. A contribution program involves terms and conditi

Public Accounts committee  Yes. Thank you. I recall. The decision as to whether to use a grant mechanism or a contribution mechanism is a decision that's correctly left with government. It's not really a decision the Auditor General should weigh in on—should it have been a grant or should it have been a c

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chairman, I share the member's concern. As I indicated in my opening statement, I too am concerned, very concerned, that there is no documentation in the federal government to explain how those projects were selected. During the course of the audit, and Madam Loschiuk will h

Public Accounts committee  Wendy, did we receive that application form?