Welcome to our guests, especially Deputy Minister Fonberg.
I must say that I was very troubled when I read the audit, and I applaud you for having created the action plan. Yet we have to go back and analyze what and why it was.
The Department of National Defence has a $19 billion budget and manages $33 billion in assets. Past audits have revealed and identified that financial management and controls were a serious issue, yet we saw in this audit once again that there was a serious lack of financial management, lack of timely and accurate information, no integrated corporate business plan, and a focus on over-planning, leading into that lapse of $300 million. Senior management seem to have been entirely disconnected from the strategic oversight of the financial management and controls, especially in the medium and long term, and you were acting without a finance committee or a CFO.
I have seven questions, so please let me know when I'm about halfway through my time, if you could, Mr. Chairman.
First, why didn't senior management have sufficient information to anticipate a half-billion-dollar surplus?
Go ahead and respond, and I will budget them as I see the time progressing.