Government Operations Committee on May 29th, 2020

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you. That was the main question I had to ask you.

I don't know if I have any time left. If I do, I will give the floor to Ms. Vignola to continue asking questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

You have lots of time, about three and a half minutes.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Madam Auditor, I have another question for you.

You said that as Auditor General, you were going to look at the expenditures surrounding COVID-19. Will this include aspects of how contracts were awarded? We know that, sometimes, in an emergency, things are done quickly. In some situations, companies obtain exclusive contracts or supply contracts at higher prices than they should have. Some companies could have taken advantage of this situation.

[Karen Hogan]

If we are assessing the awarding of significant contracts as part of our work on COVID-19, I expect that we will ensure that the government policies and procedures that govern the awarding of contracts have been followed.

Yes, there are exceptions. Yes, during the pandemic, decisions may have been made faster, as you mentioned. I expect there will be some mistakes. We also expect that there will be a mechanism to identify those errors and that steps will be taken to correct them if necessary.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you very much.

How much speaking time do I have left, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

You have one minute and 30 seconds.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

You say you're short of resources. Regarding recruitment, what was the government's response? Has it been open? We think it's very important for you to be able to work in good conditions, because that will allow us to have information about the company and to know whether the federal government is managing its affairs well.

[Karen Hogan]

Once my appointment is formalized and the process is complete, one of my priorities will be to continue discussions with the government to ensure that we have the funding we need to carry out our mandate.

At this point in time, we need temporary funding for the next few years. We also need to find a mechanism with a longer-term goal. This independent mechanism would make our funding predictable. I will continue these discussions as soon as possible.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Thank you—

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

You can count on us to ensure that you receive sufficient funding.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Thank you very much.

Colleagues, I didn't have a chance to mention at the start of the meeting that we will have to adjourn sharply at one o'clock. This will allow our technicians to get ready for the next Zoom meeting.

Mr. Green, you have six minutes.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, is it likely that we'll have a second round? Is that still in the works?

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Yes, we should have a second round.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

I must add that we may have a second round, Mr. Green, but I'm not sure we'll have a third round, so this may be your last opportunity. I don't want to guarantee that you will not have another round, but just keep that in mind.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

I will do that. Thank you.

Several organizations, such as Canadians for Tax Fairness and Transparency International, have called on the government to take additional steps to strengthen accountability and transparency, such as by publishing details on “what specific businesses and organizations receive in different forms of federal support and for what purposes during both the emergency and recovery phases.”

They want publishing details on “COVID-19 procurement and other contracts during the emergency and recovery periods, building on the good practices learned from the Open Contracting Data Standard, as other countries have done.”

They are calling for the strengthening of whistle-blower protections for “workers in the public, para-public and private sectors, following recently issued recommendations by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations” to ensure that “employees in the public and private sectors have the freedom and protection to publicly warn about public health, misuse of public funds and other concerns.”

The last point they raise is about increasing “resources for monitoring, auditing, evaluation, enforcement and prosecution including additional funding for oversight agencies like the Auditor General, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Treasury Board and for auditor and financial controllers in the affected departments.”

Can you comment on the importance of implementing these measures to ensure that public money is being spent and tracked in a transparent and accountable manner?

[Karen Hogan]

The role of the Office of the Auditor General is to help support Parliament in holding the government to account. We provide an independent, objective, credible source of information in order for Parliament to be able to do that. Clearly, any measures that would increase or add to transparency and oversight and accountability are ones that our office would applaud and is part of on a daily basis.

Adequate funding is, unfortunately, causing some constraints for us right now. If we had proper funding, we'd be able to carry out our mandate to the degree that we would like to be doing and believe that we should be doing.

As I mentioned, in addition to turning my attention to the Investing in Canada plan and COVID-19, once my nomination is done I will also be looking at continuing the dialogue that was started by my predecessors to secure sufficient funding for our organization.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

How will your office incorporate gender-based analysis plus, including race-based data, into your analysis and into its assessments?

[Karen Hogan]

We always consider aspects of sustainable development goals, and gender-based initiatives are part of them, in every audit that we do. We believe it's important to support the position of the government to focus on all of the 17 sustainable development goals. We have already modified the way we approach work. We continue to keep that at the forefront of any work we do.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

I would suggest that there may be some differences there and some gaps we have to explore in a further meeting.

Mr. Chair, at this point I'd like to put my motion, given that I may not have another round.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Please go ahead.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

It states, “That, in the context of its study of the government’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and pursuant to Standing Order 108(1)(a), the committee send for all briefing notes, memos and emails from senior officials, prepared by the Minister of Health, the President of the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Chief Medical Health Officer of Canada, and the Minister for Public Service and Procurement between 2010 and the present day, regarding the stockpiling, management, disposal and replenishment of medical supplies in the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile; that the committee receive this information no later than May 25; that the matters of Cabinet confidence and national security be excluded from the request; and that any redactions to protect the privacy of Canadian citizens and permanent residents whose names and personal information may be included in these documents, as well as public servants who have been providing assistance on this matter, be made by the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel of the House of Commons.”

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Thank you very much.

That motion is in order.

Colleagues, if you wish to participate in the debate or discussion, please raise your hand virtually. We'll see if we can get a speaking list, which Paul will coordinate.

There are a couple of things.

First, Mr. Green, I believe the date you indicated should be June 29. I'm not sure if you—

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, you'll find, I think, if you seek it, that I've had conversations with members. I didn't want to change the motion from the notice of motion I had put. I didn't know if that was possible to do.

June 25 would be the interim report, but some amendments might come to address some of these aged out dates.