But perhaps I should say that this is a question that interests me a little more than some of the other questions, but that doesn't mean, on an objective basis, that they aren't all good questions.
Just because there are a lot of rules doesn't necessarily mean you're getting value for money. That was pointed out very clearly by the Auditor General, looking into the sponsorship issue. The Auditor General indicated that there are lots of rules in place, the rules were broken, and so the emphasis needs to be not so much on rules but on accountability.
I think we're taking a positive step forward by actually holding officers accountable, the deputy ministers. As you will recall in that sponsorship situation, a mid-level bureaucrat was able to circumvent the deputy minister and report directly into a minister's office. That was not appropriate; it broke the rules. The deputy in that situation was able to say he was not responsible because he was specifically told to mind his own business in that respect. So what we need to do is to emphasize the accountability, without having a lot of unnecessary rules. What I hear from many organizations, and I tend to agree with them—very good organizations that are doing a lot of good work--is the amount of paperwork they are burdened with to get even small amounts of money.
So, again, what I believe we should be doing in the public service is to hold managers and others responsible for the decisions they make. But where honest mistakes are made, we understand that honest mistakes are made and we try to do better in other situations, but we come down hard on situations where there has been a deliberate breaking of the rules.
Again, I'm very encouraged by the passage of the Federal Accountability Act and the new fraud and criminal offences that have been brought into force as a result of the FAA. I think that is going to ensure that there is a stronger measure of accountability generally, that they know they're held to an objective standard and will be measured accordingly. So I think the FAA is going to help us not to simply create more rules—we have enough rules—but to bring accountability into the situation. Also, of course, we are awaiting the blue ribbon panel on the web of rules, as it's called, to see what we can safely jettison without undermining the integrity of the grants and contribution system.