Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome.
It's Thursday, November 17, 2016, and this is meeting number 33 of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.
I will remind everyone, not only committee members but those in the audience as well, that we are televised today, so if you wouldn't mind, please mute your phone, put it on vibrate, or shut it right off. Otherwise, we have larger hammers than this to shut them off for you.
I want to advise the members of Parliament on our committee that the Auditor General has offered to provide this committee a special briefing between 10 o'clock and 10:45 on Tuesday, November 29, immediately following the lock-up session with all parliamentarians. We have already extended our thanks to him and accepted the offer, so we should be prepared for that as well.
Today we are considering report number three of the spring 2016 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada. Report number three is an audit of the Governor in Council appointment process in administrative tribunals. We have a number of witnesses appearing before us today, who are here to answer questions from our committee.
From the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, we welcome Mr. Michael Ferguson, Auditor General of Canada, and Sharon Clark, principal; from the Privy Council Office, Janine Sherman, deputy secretary to the cabinet, senior personnel and public service renewal, and Donnalyn McClymont, assistant secretary to the cabinet, senior personnel secretariat; from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, David Dendooven, the corporate secretary, and Stephen Gagnon, director general, specific claims branch; from the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Jean Cintrat, director general, cabinet and parliamentary affairs and executive services directorate; and, from the Department of Industry, Shelley Dooher, corporate secretary, office of the corporate secretary.
We'll begin by inviting our Auditor General to please give us his comments.
Welcome.