Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Let me just talk a minute about the word “advocacy”. The Office of the Auditor General and the commissioner are advocates. We are advocates for responsible spending, we are advocates for open and transparent contracting processes, and we are advocates for good environmental management practices.
We cannot be advocates for a particular policy or be seen to represent a particular interest or group. That is why, as was said very correctly, we cannot audit policies; we can audit implementation of policies. We can see your policies being implemented in the way Parliament had intended; we cannot get into the discussion about the policy or comment on the policy, but we can see whether the policy is being implemented according to either good management practices or as Parliament has established it. Obviously, that is our mandate.