Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and ladies and gentlemen.
I understand you've had a long morning, but I do have a statement I want to make.
On behalf of CGA Canada and our 64,000 members, we're very pleased to be here and to engage in discussions with you on this very important piece of legislation.
It's actually fitting to a certain extent that about 100 years ago, 12 accountants working in Montreal sat in a room and decided to form themselves as the Certified General Accountants Association, in the quest for professional development and building of experience and skills to meet the ever-changing business environment. Some of our members working in government—about 8,000 work in the federal government right now—are struggling and coping with some of the same things as are public sector managers.
We look forward to your questions and discussions on elements of this very important legislation, but I have a few brief comments to make.
The genesis of Bill C-2 stems from a crisis of confidence that goes well beyond the purview of this government, this parliament, and indeed Canada's borders. In this world of post-Enron, Worldcom, and Parmalat, we needn't be reminded of the scourge of scandal within the private sector. Nor do we need to dwell on problems closer to home in the cases of Nortel or Canada's judicial inquiry into the sponsorship program and advertising activities. Suffice it to say that we face a crisis of confidence as a direct result of the perceived absence of ethics among our corporate, political and bureaucratic elites.
The important question is why? How has it come to this? What, if anything, has changed? What can we learn from this? And what measures can or should we adopt to prevent a recurrence?
While we all hope the legislation before us will help prevent many of the wrongs of the past from being repeated, rules and regulations are no substitute for ethical behaviour. The Auditor General and many other witnesses have said as much in their testimony before you and before other forums.
It might strike you as ironic that we should appear before you today in defence of a cautionary approach to rule-making. After all, accountants are predisposed to rules and structure. We're number crunchers, financial analysts, chief financial officers, auditors, business leaders. In sum, we are the people others turn to for guidance on how to follow the rules governing capital, assets, profits, and losses.
In that connection, though, the accountancy profession bears an enormous burden of public trust and responsibility, but a burden we shoulder willingly. It is after all our stock-in-trade. But we need to remind ourselves that rules for their own sake won't likely achieve the outcomes for which we all strive. The challenge before this Parliament and this committee is to ensure that we are able to achieve the right balance between rules, ethics, and sound governance.
In the financial world, accountability for fiscal performance is more straightforward today than ever before. Rules introduced post-Enron hold CEOs and CFOs accountable for certifying their corporate financial statements; auditors are now subject to independent oversight. No one argues with the idea that top executives are ultimately responsible for the accuracy and veracity of the financial information presented to shareholders: it merely signals that leadership and accountability come straight from the top.
Undeniably, ethics commissioners and judicial investigators have a role to play, but so have our political leaders. U.S. President Harry Truman was reputed for displaying a sign on his oval office desk that read: “The buck stops here.” What it signalled was the simply stated but powerful embrace of personal responsibility, and he was widely admired for it. Canadians are no different. We expect the same thing from our government leaders.
Canada wants and needs a federal accountability act that works, but not just at any cost. In your consideration of this legislation, you've been tasked with the challenge of striking a balance between competing interests, in order to serve all Canadians. That delicate balance includes a myriad of advocacy interests, like the organization we represent, and must take stock of their right to be heard with respect, and, at times, in strict confidence. This lies in sharp contrast with Canadians' right to know as reflected by the access to information commissioner, the media, and parliament itself. Bridging these two poles is critical — though we appreciate it is no easy task.
In bringing forward Bill C-2, we believe the government has gotten several critical elements right. We welcome the clarification of roles of deputy ministers and their ADM as accounting officers. We strongly support the creation of independent audit committees. We also believe the access to information protection afforded to internal audit working papers is appropriate and will improve the internal audit process in departments and agencies. We are pleased to see that appropriate safeguards have been put in place to ensure that draft audit reports are protected and provision has been made for their release. In sum, these measures will safeguard the integrity and effectiveness of the audit process.
We applaud the broadening of the Auditor General's authority to follow the money, and we agree with the new requirement for a five-year review of relevance and effectiveness of grants and contributions--a provision that echoes one of our many recommendations. We also think you as parliamentarians will be well served by the creation of a new position of parliamentary budget officer. And while we agree with protective and supportive measures aimed at whistle-blowers, we reject, as others have, the idea of providing public servants with monetary reward. These are all initiatives that align themselves very well with similar undertakings throughout the corporate sector.
This legislation is ambitious in its attempt to strengthen accountability and improve the management of the government's fiscal and human resources. We support these initiatives, and we've been asked to assist in efforts to strengthen financial management and improve internal audit within the federal public service. We are in the throes of launching a series of initiatives to support this goal.
As registered lobbyists, we would be remiss if we neglected to comment on proposed changes to the Lobbyists Registration Act. Clarity lies at the root of all good legislation and regulation. It ensures that each player in the system is made aware of what is expected of him or her. We believe more enforceable legislation governing the conduct of lobbyists is a laudable objective. To this end, we lend our support to the Government Relations Institute of Canada and its call for stronger investigative and enforcement provisions. While the vast majority of lobbyists are fully compliant with the law, more and better enforcement provisions will serve to protect the majority from the tarnish caused by a misguided few, and we think that's in everybody's interest.
We all want what is right for Canada's future, though we may at times disagree on how best to get there. During the course of the last federal election campaign, CGA Canada called on all parties to commit to several measures aimed at restoring Canadians' shaken confidence in their public and private sector leaders and institutions. We are delighted to see our message, along with others, was heeded.
We look forward to assisting this committee in its deliberations in whatever way we can.
We thank you and we will be pleased to answer your questions.
