I call the meeting to order.
Good afternoon, everyone. This is meeting no. 31 of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, on Thursday, November 3, 2016.
I remind everyone today that we are televised. Not only for the committee but also for those who are in attendance in the audience, we would please ask you to turn your cell phones to mute or vibrate or to shut them off. That will lessen the number of disruptions.
Today we are reviewing the Public Accounts of Canada 2016. Our clerk has received a communiqué from Mr. Matthews, the Comptroller General of Canada. In 2009, this committee recommended in its 10th report, and the government agreed, that the Comptroller General inform the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts, by way of email to the clerk of the committee, of any known errors in the published version of the Public Accounts of Canada prior to the commencement of the committee meeting. The Comptroller General has advised our committee that as of today, there are no known errors in the Public Accounts of Canada 2016.
Because many of us are new to the committee, should errors be discovered, corrections will be made and updated versions of the documents will be posted on the Receiver General website. For ease of reference, the original versions published in the Public Accounts of Canada 2016 and the revised versions with shaded changes are posted on the Receiver General website under “errata”.
As your chair, I am pleased to report that this arrangement is in place and functioning as this committee wanted and requested some time ago, and that has been dealt with.
Returning to our meeting today, as witnesses we have before us, from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, Mr. Michael Ferguson, the Auditor General of Canada, and Karen Hogan, principal. From Treasury Board Secretariat we have Mr. Bill Matthews, Comptroller General of Canada, and Ms. Diane Peressini, executive director, government accounting policy and reporting. From the Department of Finance we have Mr. Paul Rochon, deputy minister, and Mr. Nicholas Leswick, assistant deputy minister, economic and fiscal policy branch.
We welcome you all here today. We thank you for being in attendance and we will now turn to you and to our Auditor General for his opening statements. Welcome.