I think you need the committees and you need an “s” on the end of “committee”. One committee cannot do it all. The Government of Canada is so vast, so large, has so much expenditure, so much complexity, all of this can't be done.
One thing I've learned, having spent 30 years in government, was how differentiated the business of government really is. What they do in the Food Inspection Agency is very different from what goes on in Industry Canada, where they manage the spectrum; or what they do in Fisheries management and how that's handled; or in HRSDC and its disability payments. I think one needs a certain element of expertise and capacity. That's why I think support by the Parliamentary Budget Officer would be very helpful to those committees.
I think this committee can play a more horizontal role, can play a coordinating role, and can perhaps provide a bit more of an overview. But I think you need that specialized, in-depth examination.
By “in-depth” I mean focused. I don't mean looking at everything. I mean saying that in Fisheries and Oceans what we really want to focus on this year is capital acquisition with respect to the coast guard. I don't know what the issue is, but that's what I'm getting at. In the case of HRSDC, maybe it's really about disability. Maybe that's what one wants to look at. And you have to look at the tax expenditures and the direct expenditures.
It's about trying to get the committee to decide upon—and this is not easy, particularly in a parliamentary committee—what the focus is and what the one or two areas are that it really wants to focus on, and then getting the support to do that and then writing the report around those things. That may also not just have impact on these estimates, but I hope can have forward impact on future estimates as well, sending certain signals and certain messages as to where you see risk, where you see problems, and where you see greater opportunities in the future.