Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would also like to thank the senior Conservative on the committee, Dan Albas, for giving me the opportunity to be here today.
My thanks to the witnesses as well.
The questions I'll be asking today are relevant to report 1. I will also indicate that this information was communicated in a letter to the chair of the committee of which I am vice-chair, the transportation committee, so this information is specific relative to report 1 and that letter.
My first question for the Auditor General and her team is on this. Within the follow-up audit, you examined a sample of 60 violations in fiscal year 2018-19 and found that in 18 of those 60 violations Transport Canada could not verify “that companies took corrective actions” in an effort “to return to compliance”. This is a result of three possible scenarios.
Number one is that Transport Canada “did not follow up with companies to obtain the required evidence.” Situation number two is that they “did not conclude whether violations were resolved, despite companies having submitted the required evidence that they took corrective actions to address the violations.” Situation number three is the conclusion “that companies had returned to compliance”. However, the documentation was not received in an effort “to support that conclusion”, a very important part of an audit, as always.
Within the first two situations, where there was no follow-up or no conclusion, was it that the department did not have an adequate system in place to follow up on those violations, or was there a system in place that was not being applied?
My second question, relevant to my first question, is this: What information was the department using to conclude that companies were returning to compliance?