Mr. Sims has indicated to me that over the last five or six years he believes there have been some improvements in the presentation of these reports. The Auditor General herself has flagged this on a number of occasions.
It's a complicated business, and the Government of Canada has huge responsibilities and is involved in many, many areas of public life in this country.
I indicated to one of your colleagues here today that if anything in particular is a problem, we would be pleased to provide you with that information. We would get any details you want.
Is there a better way to do it? I'm not quite sure what that better way would be. I'm certainly open to pass on any suggestions you might have.
I think part of the complicated process is the whole question of supplementary estimates, which you get in two parts. In my preparation for coming before you today, I had to look at it very carefully. I had to ask a lot of questions as to where the money is in terms of a number of programs I know we announced, and those are part of estimates.
So I can see that anybody would find this very, very difficult. What I can say to you is, if there are any areas or a lot of areas you would like to have further information on so you can do your job—I appreciate the job you do. This is a job that is as old as the parliamentary system itself, going back hundreds of years—the scrutiny by members of Parliament of the funds necessary to run the government.
So I appreciate that it is complicated. I can appreciate that it can be very confusing. But I can say to you that we will certainly do our very best to accommodate any questions you have. I take note of your comments in the overall context, because, as I say, it is not easy for me, and I have responsibility for the department to make sure that all the funding is properly there.