Government Operations Committee on March 20th, 2024

[Charles Sousa, Liberal, Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON]

Do you want me to proceed? Okay. I'd like to share two minutes of my time with the vice-chair, Mr. Jowhari.

Minister, thank you for being here, and I appreciate you and your team and the amount of work that you do on clamping down on fraud and enhancing accountability.

I know that some members opposite have been going on about double-dippers. Of course, one of them was a card-carrying Conservative member, and he was out there doing what he was doing.

We recognized major cuts as part of the problem as we proceeded forward. Members of this very committee voted against funding the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying—

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

I have a point of order, Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

I'm sorry. I'll pause your time, Mr. Sousa.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Mr. Sousa is deliberately spreading misinformation with the evidence that was heard yesterday.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

It's dangerous misinformation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

This is not.... Okay. I appreciate it.

Mr. Sousa, continue.

[Charles Sousa, Liberal, Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON]

Misinformation is something they know all too well, Mr. Chair.

Furthermore, they voted against the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. The funding of these officers of Parliament is extremely important. They hold the government to account and ensure trust in our institutions. Certainly, the Office of the Auditor General is a prime example.

Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, Pierre Poilievre, when he was the minister responsible for safeguarding our democracy, did not ensure that these officers of Parliament were funded adequately.

Can you explain to this committee your thoughts on how we ensure adequate funding for these institutions, and what next steps are being taken for accountability measures and to ensure adherence to the issues at hand?

[Anita Anand]

I'm sorry.

Mr. Chair, there's a lot going on in the room. I didn't quite catch the question. If I can, I'll ask the member to restate the question.

[Charles Sousa, Liberal, Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON]

I'll repeat the question, Minister.

You're doing extensive work. You're taking initiatives going forward, recognizing some of the shortcomings that have occurred and recognizing some of the shortcomings of the previous government.

What are the steps being taken? Can you reaffirm the announcement you made today?

[Anita Anand]

Thank you for that question.

The first thing we're doing is taking a comprehensive look across government. Many departments will be examined by the comptroller general. We will be doing a horizontal audit. From there, we will also be enhancing the manager's guide on professional services, and we will be looking at the directive on conflicts of interest.

The new guide for managers on professional services is being issued today, so we are taking proactive steps after the Auditor General's report.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

This question goes directly to the clerk of the committee.

As we are talking about ArriveCAN, I would like to get confirmation from the clerk of the committee about all of the documents Mr. Kristian Firth, who is the CEO for GC Strategies has provided to the committee. Has he provided all the documents he was supposed to provide to the committee through you?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

You can't ask questions of the clerk. You can ask me to ask the clerk.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Okay, Chair. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

My understanding is that Mr. Firth has sent forth two sets of answers, but did not answer completely everything that was asked of him.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Is the clerk of that position as well?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

You can go ahead and respond, sir.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Thomas Bigelow]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Through you, Chair, as you stated, sir, the committee has received two correspondences from Mr. Firth. The last was distributed to members on Monday morning. I believe the correspondence that was circulated in both official languages stated remaining answers. Therefore, at this point, I don't expect anything further from Mr. Firth.

I would leave it to the committee to assess whether or not the questions have all been addressed in those responses. I would not ascertain the analysis myself.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Is there something specific you were looking for?

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

We know, as it relates to ArriveCAN, that there were a number of questions raised, and I wanted to make sure that all those questions were responded to in those two responses. I realize that one went beyond the nine a.m. deadline.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

It's a yes and a no. We didn't get everything in time. The stuff we asked him to please respond to in writing is different from answering all of the questions asked of him at the meeting.

It's two-pronged. Questions were asked at the meeting that he refused to respond to. He was also asked to provide the response to some questions in writing, and it appears those were responded to, if that's what you're asking about.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

All the items he was requested to provide in writing, he has provided.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

From what I can tell, and I think from what.... I don't want to speak for you, but what I think the clerk has....

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Yes. I want to make sure that the clerk....

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

I don't think we're looking for anything else, apart from what we asked for written responses to.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Can the clerk kindly...?