Evidence of meeting #123 for Public Accounts in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cra.
A video is available from Parliament.
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Thank you.
There are two things.
First of all, I'm going to give Monsieur Massé about a minute here at the end. It was requested from the government side, and there was the question about the consultation back and forth.
Mr. Dompierre, it looked as though you were prepared to answer. I limited the time on the previous question because it was my question, but they wanted you to have the opportunity to answer.
5:20 p.m.
Principal, Office of the Auditor General
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We do have meetings and discussion with the internal audit folks. We do have discussion with them, for instance, to define what they're going to do in the future in terms of their own plans. We share our own activities that we will perform. We do have a good collaboration with the internal audit function in order to, as I said before, complement each other in the way we do our work.
As Mr. Hamilton said, we are independent, as they are independent in their own activity. That is what I wanted to add.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Thank you, Mr. Dompierre.
Monsieur Massé, can you finalize in a minute?
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Rémi Massé Liberal Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
This report from the Auditor General is important because of the conclusions and findings. The questions we have asked clearly demonstrate the importance we parliamentarians attach to a report like this.
I have a question for the Canada Revenue Agency representatives.
What is agency management doing to explain the conclusions of this report? As you said earlier, 40,000 public servants is a lot of people. Most of the time, public servants focus on the work entrusted to them.
What is being planned to make all public servants at the Canada Revenue Agency aware of the importance of the findings? I would also like to know what your action plan will be in this regard.
5:25 p.m.
Commissioner of Revenue and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Revenue Agency
It is a challenge for us to ensure that the message sent to our 40,000 employees is clear and consistent throughout the organization. I spent a lot of time talking to everyone in every corner of the country to make sure the message was clear. It is important that Canadians have confidence in the system and that we apply our rules or guides consistently. This is very important to me.
I put a little emphasis on the service culture within the agency, even with regard to auditors. It is certainly important to maintain people's trust in the agency, but it is equally important to have good relations with taxpayers from the outset and to discuss with them to raise their awareness. If we don't reach an agreement, we'll have to strengthen our practices in this area.
It is important for us to communicate the changes to public servants and to act on the Auditor General's recommendations, which we have accepted and on which we agree.
Ted, is there anything else you want to add?
5:25 p.m.
Assistant Commissioner, International, Large Business and Investigations Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
I would just like to add that an email has been sent to all employees. In addition, in our action plan, we have planned a consultation to ensure we inform employees. It's not enough to change the procedures; they must be explained better. It's set out in the action plan.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Rémi Massé Liberal Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Excellent. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I've finished.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Thank you very much, Mr. Massé.
I want to thank all our guests from the OAG and the CRA for being here today. We wish you well as you try to comply with the action plan and meet these deadlines.
It's frustrating to the average Canadian any time they get a call or a letter from the CRA. In fact, with the scams that are going on out there now.... We have people calling in who are being scammed over the phone by what they think is the CRA. It puts everybody into a mode of uncertainty and panic.
I think most Canadians understand the importance of complying with the CRA, but they expect to be treated fairly. We wish you all the best as you try to meet these needs, and we thank the Auditor General's office for another audit well done.
Thank you, committee.
We're now adjourned.