Now they are all in a good mood.
I'm pleased to see that we have a pretty comprehensive action plan in front of us here today. Thank you for providing that. The action plan lays out the department's response to the second part of the Auditor General's report dealing with the administration of contracts.
Before I get there, I want to briefly touch on the awarding of contracts, because I do believe this is a good-news story. In the past there have been major problems with Public Works, and it's very rewarding to see that changes have been made.
Looking back to your report of 2003, you had some strong words to say about the awarding of contracts, words such as “little regard for Parliament” or for the “contracting rules and regulations”. In this report we see, and I quote:
The tendering process was therefore conducted in a fair and open manner.
...
...we found that 96 percent of the contracts that PWGSC awarded on a sole source basis complied with the appropriate legislation, regulations, and policies; consequently, we concluded that they were awarded in a fair, open, and transparent manner.
That is a significant change from the 2003 report.
Auditor General, is it a fair assessment to say that we have seen a significant improvement with the awarding of contracts, and could you elaborate on this improvement?