Mr. Chair, the public accounts committee, in my opinion, is essential for the success, or otherwise, of the work of the Office of the Auditor General. The public accounts committee provides a forum in which to have a public discussion of our findings. The public accounts committee itself is given an opportunity to weigh in on the Auditor General's findings, express its own views, issue its reports to the House of Commons, and request a government response. So the Office of the Auditor General would be significantly less effective without the work of this committee, which is why we value our relationship with this committee as much as we do.
On October 5th, 2011. See this statement in context.