Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Holland is correct that our concerns about audit access or auditing of foundations were covered or addressed last summer by Bill C-43, and I guess the whole question as to whether our mandate is expanded or not is really up to Parliament to decide on. What I would say is that we believe it essential that there be the words “that the audits be conducted at the discretion of the Auditor General” so the Auditor General is the one who decides whether and how this expanded mandate would be used. I don't expect that there would be any conflict if there were to be a first nations auditor general, because as I said earlier, we would go back and look at the systems and practices in place to ensure that moneys are being spent to achieve the objectives intended. If there was a first nations auditor general, that would obviously form part of that, and it would reinforce I think the belief that moneys were being properly spent. As you said, it's all about managing expectations, isn't it?
We will have to see. We've always tried to be responsive to parliamentarians if parliamentarians have particular concerns or issues that they think an audit would be helpful in resolving, and the committee requests we have always tried to accommodate within our work plan. I guess we would need to have a better understanding from parliamentarians, if they were to ask us to do some work, of what the underlying concern is and determine whether an audit really would be the best tool to address that concern, because an audit doesn't solve everything.