I call the meeting to order.
I want to welcome everyone here and apologize to all the witnesses and the other members of the public who are at the meeting. Unfortunately the House got tied up with quite a number of votes and it took quite a bit longer than some of us intended. But I guess that's the way Parliament and democracy work.
This hearing is pursuant to chapter 1, “A Study of Federal Transfers to Provinces and Territories”, of the December 2008 Report of the Auditor General of Canada. We have an inordinately large number of witnesses, and again I want to welcome each and every one of you.
We have, of course, from the Office of the Auditor General, the Auditor General, Sheila Fraser. She's accompanied by Neil Maxwell, assistant auditor general. We also have the deputy minister and accounting officer from the Department of Finance, Rob Wright. He's accompanied by Barbara Anderson, assistant deputy minister. From the Treasury Board Secretariat we have the Comptroller General, Mr. Rod Monette. He's accompanied by John Morgan, the assistant comptroller general. From the Privy Council we have Mr. Alfred MacLeod, assistant deputy minister; and Krista Campbell, acting director general. From the Public Sector Accounting Board we have Ms. Nola Buhr, chair; and Tim Beauchamp, director.
We have a pretty high-profile group of individuals with us, so again welcome to each and every one of you.
We're obviously not going to take the whole two hours, but we may be able to go beyond 5:30 a little. I would ask the witnesses who have circulated reports to perhaps highlight them and be as brief as possible.
I'm going to start with you, Ms. Fraser.