Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Usually I like to focus on things like the performance measurement, things that the Auditor General has brought up in the past, the quality of data collection, the focus on the end-user, on Canadians as well, on the people who receive government services. I think that's absolutely critical in this stage.
However, when we're talking about the public accounts committee and looking at efficiency and effectiveness, usually we can talk about action plans and measurements and milestones and so on, and that gets the job done. I'm afraid that in this case I have to come back to the essence of the work of this regulatory body and how the work is actually initiated in the stakeholder consultations.
If we return to paragraph 4.30, the Auditor General has noted the following:
Transport Canada frequently did not seek input from stakeholders other than manufacturers. This meant there was little opportunity for others to influence regulatory initiatives. In particular, the Department did not issue public notifications of regulatory proposals for two of the three regulations....
These are discussed in the report, the “Lighting System and Retroflective Devices” and the “Side Door Strength”. The only one that had a notification was the “Occupant Protection in Frontal Impacts”.
Something like what we witnessed here today, when my colleague talked about asking the manufacturers to reimburse you for the cars, is something that could come out in an early round table, a let's talk about what we need to be doing kind of thing.
This is an audit that covers the period from January 2010 to September 2016. I'm afraid we're talking about long-standing practices with what sounds like a small group. My colleague Mr. McColeman asked how many people work there, and it's about 90 people. Am I correct?
Again, we see the statement repeated in several places, that it appears that “manufacturers may have exercised a disproportionate influence on regulatory decision making and caused delays in updating the regulations”. In fact, it's a concern that some of the safety inspectors were concerned about the companies themselves, whether they would have economic difficulties.
How can you assure us today that this is going to change?