Evidence of meeting #30 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was amendments.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Sheila Fraser  Auditor General of Canada, Office of the Auditor General of Canada
Scott Vaughan  Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

4:30 p.m.

Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Scott Vaughan

In my last job, in the Organization of American States, about 70% of our work was on freshwater management.

4:30 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC

Management in North America?

4:30 p.m.

Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Scott Vaughan

Yes, sir. More specifically, it was the operational implications of integrated water resource management.

4:30 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC

You mentioned before that you would be publishing a report in 2009 on water issues

4:30 p.m.

Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Scott Vaughan

Correct. The report will come out in February 2009.

4:30 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC

Now, is it appropriate for me to ask you what some of the topics will be or what the focus will be? No? Yes?

4:30 p.m.

Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Scott Vaughan

Within the water...?

4:30 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC

Yes, that's right. Mr. Jean mentioned oil sands, but I didn't hear that when you first mentioned it.

4:30 p.m.

Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Scott Vaughan

It would be entirely appropriate, and I'd be glad to follow up with you, sir. We're having a briefing.

4:30 p.m.

Auditor General of Canada, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Sheila Fraser

I can answer that, Chair.

It's a follow-up to the previous water audit that was done by the Commissioner of the Environment in about 2004 or 2005. For example, I remember there were questions of airplanes and buildings. It would be a follow-up to see if the recommendations made in that audit have been implemented and whether government has respected the commitments it made at that time.

4:30 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC

Would it get into the area of federal freshwater science?

4:30 p.m.

Auditor General of Canada, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Sheila Fraser

No, it would simply be a follow-up of the previous audit, which was actually fairly limited. There could potentially be other audits going further, but this one is a status report.

4:30 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC

I think I've raised this before, maybe with you, Ms. Fraser--I can't quite remember. I think it would be a great idea to look at the federal government's role with respect to freshwater management and the possibility that it will be hiving off this responsibility--operationally, anyway--to universities.... Anyway, that's just my opinion at this point.

Go ahead, Mr. Vellacott.

4:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Bob Mills

Thank you.

Mr. Vellacott.

4:35 p.m.

Conservative

Maurice Vellacott Conservative Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK

Thank you, Francis, and Mr. Chair as well.

I want to welcome you again to our committee, as has our chair and others before me. Thank you for being here. We'll have other times and opportunities.

I gather at this point you've been in your desk long enough to have found the calculator, and maybe this question that I'm going to ask is going to take a sophisticated software program to answer. I'm interested in terms of costs for a bill like Bill C-474. I'm wondering if in fact your office has the capacity to report on the 400 or so items listed in the schedule. I conjecture that possibly those reports would simply highlight the lack of dollars for that.

So first off, in your first couple of days on the job, have you been able to calculate the cost of Bill C-474? And in terms of the capacity, do you have the capacity to report on those some 400 items?

4:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Bob Mills

Mr. Vellacott, so as not to put our guests on the spot, there is another department that does the costing. Also, our witnesses aren't here to talk about a specific bill.

4:35 p.m.

Conservative

Maurice Vellacott Conservative Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK

I understand that, Mr. Chair, respectfully.

I'm just wondering, though, whether you will be reporting on something like that in terms of....

4:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Bob Mills

Is that the sort of thing, Ms. Fraser?

4:35 p.m.

Auditor General of Canada, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Sheila Fraser

Mr. Chair, as I understand it, should this bill pass, we would be required to give an evaluation or an assessment of a report that the government itself would produce. We are actually just in discussions now, given that this strategy would apply to many more departments and agencies and crown corporations, as well.

We currently have a requirement to look at the sustainable development strategies of 26 departments. We would not want to have an obligation to look at sustainable development strategies every year for all those entities. To do the assessment of a government-wide report is appropriate, and to have the flexibility to look at specific sustainable development strategies as we feel necessary would again be appropriate. That is the kind of work we would be doing. Other than that, the cost of implementing this is really up to the government to determine. We would not be doing that kind of work.

4:35 p.m.

Conservative

Maurice Vellacott Conservative Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK

But you feel that you have the capacity to report on those other reports, I guess, if you will.

4:35 p.m.

Auditor General of Canada, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Sheila Fraser

Doing the assessment of the report the government itself would issue, yes, we have the capacity to do that.

4:35 p.m.

Conservative

Maurice Vellacott Conservative Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK

Thank you.

4:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Bob Mills

Thank you, Mr. Vellacott.

What I would like to do now is go directly to making a decision on when the amendments will be due. We need to know that. That's essential.

Yes, Mr. Warawa.

4:35 p.m.

Conservative

Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC

Could I make a motion that the date be changed? Today is May 7. I'd like it changed to....

4:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Bob Mills

Excuse me, Mr. Warawa.

Witnesses, thank you very much for attending. We won't let you go through this. Thank you so much for attending. We'll see you many more times, I know. Thank you.

Sorry, Mr. Warawa.