Public Accounts committee  We noted in the report some problems in terms of the time it takes Parliament to approve changes to certain fees. The departments may not wish to change their fee structure.

Public Accounts committee  Certainly this is a factor that Parliament and the central agencies must consider. That is why we mentioned it in the report. It is difficult to do whatever you want. I'm thinking about Mr. Cullen's interpretation of the act. It's a valid question.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, we have selected certain fees that bring in substantial revenues.

Public Accounts committee  The act applies in all cases if the amount of the fee changes.

Public Accounts committee  I don't think that's necessarily an oversimplification. I do think that we point to the fact that we were looking for a comprehensive analysis that was providing the rationale, including consideration of other factors, as well as the cost and the value for certain fees.

Public Accounts committee  No, there was no change in that fee. That fee was established before the User Fees Act, and the interpretation, as we've just discussed, has only been relative to changes in fees.

Public Accounts committee  No, it hasn't changed. It was introduced in 1995 and it has not changed.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chairman, we have already provided the committee with a full list of the fees that add up to the $1.9 billion, which, by the way, may already address the question Mr. Laforest asked of the Comptroller General.

Public Accounts committee  There are two columns of calculations. We believe our calculation is a legitimate calculation on the basis of the time reporting system within DFAIT. The recalculation by DFAIT was on the basis of a time allocation in the original approval of the fee. As Mr. Rigby has stated, t

Public Accounts committee  If I could just add, the auction example is being used by industry right now in terms of spectrum and the licensing we did touch on, but there is further spectrum licensing they're doing now.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you. First of all, I would say that we have indicated that the value has to be taken into consideration in establishing a fee of that type. That doesn't mean that has been the case in all cases. We have reported in the chapter that for the commercial fishing licence there

Public Accounts committee  We only examined that case; we didn't do an exhaustive study. I think we have tabled with the committee the long list of fees that are collected, and we did not examine all of those to determine. So the only one we are aware of is the medical marijuana case at this point.

Public Accounts committee  That would be true, Mr. Chairman. Equally, I would point out that as I mentioned, all fees existing in the past that have not changed are also avoiding the User Fees Act similarly, so it's not just the contracting. But we point out that by using a contract you can avoid the User

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chairman, I'd ask Mr. MacLellan perhaps to respond to that.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for this opportunity to present the results of our audit from the May report of the Auditor General on management of fees in selected departments and agencies. Joining me today, as you've mentioned, is Clyde MacLellan, assistant auditor genera