Public Accounts Committee on May 14th, 2009

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

I'll go to Ms. Ratansi, very briefly, and then I'll put the vote.

[Yasmin Ratansi, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

Thank you.

I understand where they're coming from, Mr. Chair. It was a highly unusual request that the government made. It wanted this money urgently so it could stimulate the economy.

For months they had not given us anything, and now I see appropriation, not drawdown. That's where the issue is. They could have utilized the usual process of the budget, $236 billion, and utilized that effectively. Why did they make Parliament approve $3 billion on the pretext they wanted to create jobs?

We need transparency and accountability. And no other committee is doing work on it, Mr. Chair. I checked.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

I'm going to call the—

[Daryl Kramp, Conservative, Prince Edward—Hastings, ON]

Mr. Chair, can I have just ten seconds only? One other last concern, and this has nothing to do with....

We have always been reporting and/or doing our work based on the Auditor General's reports to us. This now sets a precedent that anything is in the ball game.

Really, her concerns are not the major concern of this thing.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Sauvageau brought in one about funding during the federal election that wasn't on any Auditor General's report, and we asked for special—

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

There are people who have planes to catch. I'm going to put the question.

A recorded vote is requested. I'm going to turn that over to the clerk.

All in favour of the motion of Ms. Ratansi as amended?

(Motion as amended agreed to: yeas 6; nays 5 [See Minutes of Proceedings])

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Chair, we have a letter from Public Works that I ask the clerk to read out, please.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

Is it in both official languages, Mr. Saxton?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Yes, we have it in both official languages.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

I think this has been circulated, Mr. Saxton.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Right. I have a motion I would like to present to committee on this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

Well, we'll just take it as notice that you want to give it to us. This is only for notice. This is not to be....

I'll just read it very briefly: that during the week of May 25, by Friday, May 15, the Department of Public Works and Government Services be required to deposit the audio cassettes requested at the meeting of March 24, 2009, in relation to the committee’s study of chapter 3, “Contracting for Public Services--Public Works and Government Services Canada”, of the December 2008 Report of the Auditor General of Canada.

Now, the way this works, colleagues, is that Mr. Saxton has presented this motion. I haven't analyzed it, but unless he has unanimous consent, this is just notice. It would be debated and voted upon at our next meeting, which will be on Tuesday.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

No, no, but we may allow unanimous consent. If it's what I think it is, I want to.

[An hon. member]

I didn't hear all of it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

I'm sorry, I read that a little too quickly. I'll go slowly.

I think the motion reads--correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Saxton--that....

I think there was a cut-and-paste job here that got screwed up.

[Luc Desnoyers, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

I don't have the French version of the document you're talking about.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

The French version is there.

[Luc Desnoyers, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

In any case, I don't have the French version of the motion you're reading.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

Well, let me read this. It will just take a second, as follows: that during the week of May 25, 2009, the Department of Public Works and Government Services be required to deposit the audio cassettes requested at the meeting of March 24, 2009, in relation to the committee’s study of chapter 3, “Contracting for Public Services--Public Works and Government Services Canada”, of the December 2008 Report of the Auditor General of Canada.

That is accepted on notice.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Chair, may I ask for the floor?

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

Go ahead, Mr. Christopherson.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

We're talking about the letter from the Deputy Minister of Public Works, correct? I'm willing to stay here for a moment to deal with this, because if I'm reading it right, I'm outraged.

We passed a motion and dealt with that whole privacy issue. We brought in the lawyer and heard legal advice. We took our position. Now we have a letter telling us they're going about their business exactly the way they wanted to, regardless of our motion.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

No, they're saying that they're adding ten days. They need an extra ten days--

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

No, no:The department is treating the committee's request as a priority, but must still respect its obligations under the Privacy Act. A dedicated team is working on the review of the audio cassettes and is seeking the consent....

Well, we went through all of that, and we made a determination that the cassette tape, given that it was in a public arena, was to be delivered whole to this committee. That's the motion. Now this says they're not going to do it that way. I think that's a problem.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

But the motion is not the letter; the motion is different from the letter.