Public Accounts Committee on Dec. 2nd, 2009

[William Baker]

At a federal level?

[Bonnie Crombie, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Yes.

[William Baker]

There are regular meetings on H1N1 management that occur at many levels.

[Bonnie Crombie, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

With your department as well?

[William Baker]

Absolutely.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

Madame Faille, a short question.

[Meili Faille, Bloc, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

A little earlier, you said that you had communicated with the various departments. Have you identified the essential services pertaining to public security in the various departments?

[William Baker]

Yes, we have identified critical sectors to ensure that we have a plan for these sectors.

[Meili Faille, Bloc, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Have all of the human resources positions been staffed?

[William Baker]

The branch responsible for emergency management is in the process of hiring other people. I must confess that we will be spending the budget that has been allocated to us this year.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

Merci, Madame Faille.

That pretty well concludes our time slot, colleagues.

Before I ask the witnesses for their concluding remarks, on behalf of every member of the committee, I want to thank all of you for being here today.

The protection of citizens is the fundamental responsibility of every government. Sometimes in western developed countries we seem to be losing sight of that fact. Certainly the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness plays a vital role in the operations of this country. The department has some challenges, but we are confident that they will get those challenges behind them.

We want to thank you for your work, Madam Fraser and your officials, and Mr. Baker and your department.

Before we adjourn, I am going to ask the Auditor General if she has concluding remarks, and then I'm going to turn to Mr. Baker.

Ms. Fraser.

[Sheila Fraser]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the committee for their interest in what we believe is an important and serious issue. As I mentioned in my opening statement, we are pleased with the response of the department. They appear to be committed to taking action and have developed an action plan that we believe addresses our issues. Even though I may not be around, I suspect that the office will go back at some time to follow up on this report.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

Thank you, Ms. Fraser.

Mr. Baker.

[William Baker]

My colleagues and I are pleased to have had an opportunity to answer your questions. This an incredibly important area of government endeavour, and we will do what it takes to make sure we're fulfilling Parliament's expectations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shawn Murphy]

Again I want to thank you.

The meeting is adjourned.