Public Accounts committee  In my opinion, the most important thing that MPs and Parliament can do is to focus on results. The government spends a vast amount of money, over $200 billion in fact. What does all of this spending mean for Canadians? As I see it, this should be the fundamental concern of MPs.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Treasury Board has a lot of responsibilities, and there are many different things one could say in talking about them. I thought perhaps I would spend a little time talking to the committee about an aspect that you may not have focused on. Obviously,

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  When someone comes to the conclusion that a situation is really unacceptable, and he or she speaks to the director general and the director general nevertheless responds that everything is fine, the decision is a hard one to make. However, it is very important that every individu

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You're all engaged in a really important exercise. Perhaps because I live in government I think it's really important. Good luck.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I wouldn't feel competent to put a number on it. Let me tell you how I think about the bill. These are institutional questions you're dealing with. You're creating new officers of Parliament who are going to be there for the long term, or so you hope. You're creating new procedu

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  That's an important question. It is one of the fundamental functions of Parliament, obviously. I'm a little surprised. There was one recommendation that Judge Gomery made that I thought was very good that hasn't been picked up in the legislation, but it hasn't been picked up in

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I'd thought the intent was probably fairly innocent in the sense that when the government does a bill, the Department of Finance, the Treasury Board, or whomever, are going to have to satisfy the cabinet as to what it will cost. Presumably, it's the kind of information that could

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  One of these dangers is part of the question that Mr. Owen asked me, I believe: are we trying to do too much? Are we increasing the number of officers of Parliament? Are we increasing the number of processes? That could indeed undermine the proper operation of government. It is

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  That's the business of the members on the committee. Nevertheless, I believe you've heard a lot of witnesses. From my experience, next week, when you begin the clause-by-clause consideration, it will be very important and it will be helpful for you to take the necessary time to

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  It is up to you, the members, to judge how much time that takes, but this is a very complex bill. The President of the Treasury Board said this morning, in his speech to officials, that it had taken nine weeks to prepare this bill. That's very little time, in view of its conside

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Just as a point of clarification on Mr. Owen's question, is it about the public service code or a code of conduct?

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I don't have any particular hesitations about a code of conduct for public servants. If you want to put it in legislation, that's fine. A code of conduct is mostly what you carry around in your head. You don't pull out a little book every once in a while to see what you ought t

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Thank you for your invitation, Mr. Chairman. I am glad to have an opportunity to come by and see if I can be of some help to the committee. I won't have a long opening statement. The way I come at this subject is that this bill is really the third of three attempts to respond t