Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Last Friday, you all received a copy of the notice of motion, which I will take the time to read out, in keeping with our practices:
That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study of the expenses of the Office of the Governor General’s Secretary for its representation activities abroad and in Canada for the years 2015 to the present; that, in light of the information disclosed during the meeting on Thursday, September 22, concerning the testimony of representatives of organizations related to the decision-making process and the use of budgets by and for the Office of the Governor General’s Secretary, the committee invite the following witnesses to testify: Christine MacIntyre, Deputy Secretary, Policy, Program and Protocol Branch, Office of the Governor General’s Secretary; Stewart Wheeler, Chief of Protocol of Canada, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development; Senior officials of the Department of Canadian Heritage; Senior representatives of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; Any other witnesses whom the committee deems appropriate to invite; that testimony take place over for at least three meetings and that the committee begins its study on Monday, October 24, 2022; that Department of National Defence, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Department of Canadian Heritage and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police table the financial reports of the expenses incurred during the trips of the Governor General from 2015 to present, as well as copies of invoices associated with the March 2022 trip to the Middle East of the Office of the Governor General’s Secretary, broken down by trip and by item of expenditure including, in particular, accommodation costs, catering costs, caterer costs, travel costs, security costs, and costs for alcohol and drinks, indicating the number people included for each delegation; that the said documents be submitted in English and French and forwarded no later than Friday, October 21, 2022, at noon to the Clerk of the Committee and that the Clerk forward them upon receipt to the members of the committee; that the committee report its observations and recommendations to the House.
I know that the motion is particularly lengthy, which is why we put it on notice.
The reason I am asking for this is simply that, after our committee meeting, we obtained the details through a newspaper. And yet, the witnesses we had were, apparently, unable to give us certain numbers because they didn’t have them on hand, even though a newspaper was able to obtain them on very short notice. I am not saying that the committee was duped, but there are questions to ask about how prepared, informed and competent people were able to appear before a committee without any numbers, when a newspaper was able to get them.
Furthermore, we must make sure that expenses are actually reviewed, that taxpayers are aware of what happened over the last five years. We also need to be able to establish a comparison. My request is not at all belligerent. I simply want to be able to make comparisons and get the final story. I won’t go so far as to say that it is insulting, but I think we must ask detailed questions and give people time to prepare. The motion was tabled in early June 2022. Some preparation was still required, some information had to be gathered. And yet, the committee was unable to get those numbers, when a newspaper received exact details.
My goal is simply to shed light on the situation and be able to make recommendations, with all due humility, to ensure that this type of situation never happens again. These are tax dollars from our taxpayers, some of whom are having trouble making ends meet.
And then there are the emails we received. Since we are on the list for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, I imagine that some of you received quite a few.
Personally, to date, I have received 500 or 600 emails from people who are outraged by these expenditures. That said, I am a Francophone, which means that Francophones are more likely to write to me than to you. That being said, there are still nine the Anglophone provinces. And so, I imagine that you received many more than I did.
That’s the long and the short of it.