Thank you. Yes, it is a complex situation, and no doubt when you discuss the first chapter, we'll discuss this whole issue in considerably more depth.
I have a couple of things to point out. First, I don't think there is a panacea here in terms of accrual accounting being the final solution and once you have that you're done, because other things do come to bear on these decisions.
I would just reflect on Mr. Marshall's comments towards the end, where ultimately the Treasury Board ministers have to look at all the things that are in front of them. It may well be that even if you're in an accrual mode, the lack of cash is still a matter of interest to government. Do you have to go into further debt in order to acquire the lease? They may not want to do that. They may prefer to pay cash up front, and I think those kinds of decisions will still be in front of us. But the accrual basis of accounting used for appropriations and budgeting does definitely bias these decision-makings in favour of long-term thinking, which is what I'm hearing around the table here. So perhaps what we need is to understand that the decisions are influenced by different things and that the transparency of the rationale for a particular decision is perhaps one of the things we need to focus on.
I would just add that one of the problems we have with this issue of when and how we move to accrual-based appropriations is that we, the accountants--and I represent the Office of the Comptroller General in this matter--are responsible for establishing accounting principles related to reporting externally, as we do in the public accounts, for example. The appropriations, on the other hand, are legal matters, and the way they unfold and are calculated is governed by another group, which is the expenditure management sector. Hopefully when you look at chapter one, both those groups will be represented. Right now, the expenditure management sector people were not available on the short notice of yesterday.
I guess the bottom line is that it is not a panacea, but it certainly is a move in the right direction.