Welcome, Auditor General, and thank you for giving us the opportunity to hear your view of this important bill.
As I said in my opening remarks for the official opposition in Parliament, the opposition supports this bill. While we have some concern with some sections that may be improved by amendment, we are wholly in support of the continuing incremental improvement of our accountability mechanisms in Parliament and in government.
One of the difficulties, which you have pointed out in the past, about the discussions that we have, which sometimes need to be very critical about particular operations that have failed the standards that we all expect, is that it can give the impression to the public that this is a generalized problem in government. In dealing with this, I've heard you say in the past that while harsh words are sometimes necessary, and strong conclusions have to be raised, we have to be careful not to generalize it in a way that would have the public lose the requisite respect that it needs for democratic government, either through public servants or politicians, for democracy really to work.
I refer as well to the words of Justice Gomery, in his first report, almost his introductory statement, that Canadians must understand that the overwhelming majority of public servants and politicians are honest, diligent, and effective in their work, and escape from his inquiry without blame. I appreciate your previous remarks on that.
One of my questions would be on the atmosphere of this very important work that we're doing in public, the steps that we should be taking to reinforce the idea that government is overwhelmingly honest and effective and diligent in Canada at all levels and across all parties that find themselves in government, and that this accountability bill is really targeted at the exceptions rather than the common practice.
I'd also be very interested in knowing your views of the proposed parliamentary budget officer--in particular, given that the Auditor General is an officer of Parliament as well, and you and your officials assist us as parliamentarians to do our job better in holding the executive accountable, whether there may be some efficiencies or whether there is a role of that parliamentary budget officer that would make it inconsistent with the mandate of your office. I recognize that there is one example where the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development is contained within the Auditor General's mandate. One of the issues that comes up in this very massive undertaking that we're involved in is the proliferation of parliamentary officers, which may lead to some confusion or overburdening of the administration.
We're trying to get that proper balance. I wonder if you could comment on that particular officer.