Public Accounts Committee on Nov. 5th, 2020

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly Block]

We will now move to our second round, starting with Mr. Lawrence for five minutes.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce a motion. I'm hopeful the we will have unanimous support for it.

It is merely calling out what the Auditor General had requested in her testimony. I will read the motion into the record en français:

That the Standing Committee on Public Accounts call upon the government to provide the auditor general with the $31M she has requested that is required for her to achieve the Office of the Auditor General objectives, and that the committee report this to the House.

I believe this motion should have unanimous support, as it merely formalizes the request made by the Auditor General.

She did say in her testimony that, in fact, the government was sending positive signs that they were going to provide her with this information. As I'm sure all members of the committee are aware, the Auditor General's work is extremely important. If her office is not properly funded, we miss out on getting important information that will allow the government, and indeed all parliamentarians, to make better decisions, as great decisions are based on great information.

I look forward to your questions and comments on my motion. I look forward hopefully to getting unanimous support of the committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly Block]

Thank you very much, Mr. Lawrence.

We can move to debate on this motion. It was circulated to all members in both official languages giving the proper amount of time to be on notice.

Mr. Lawrence, I want to confirm that you would like to move to debate rather than wait for this to be taken care of in committee business.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Yes, thank you. I would like to move to debate.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly Block]

Thank you very much.

I see Mr. Longfield would like to speak to the motion.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

It's a good motion. I do want to have more dialogue with the witnesses that have prepared to be here today on the details of the $31 million and what time frame that's over.

She did indicate to us that discussions were very positive and going well with the government, so we would like to support the Auditor General and make sure she has the resources she needs to do the audit work with her department.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly Block]

Thank you very much, Mr. Longfield.

Mr. Sorbara.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Good morning, everyone. Of course, MP Lawrence, it's always great to see you, my friend.

If we are in agreement, I would like to dispense and go to a vote on MP Lawrence's motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly Block]

Thank you very much.

Is that a motion to dispense?

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Yes, it is.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly Block]

Thank you very much.

I would have to admit that I am learning as we go with these proceedings.

Madam Clerk, if we have moved to dispense, then I assume that we move directly to taking a vote on the motion that has been presented.

[The Clerk]

If there's no other debate, yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly Block]

I do see Mr. Berthold's hand up.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I agree that we should go to a vote immediately. Normally, we should vote on Mr. Sorbara's proposal first, and then on this one.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly Block]

Thank you, Mr. Berthold.

Mr. Blois.

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

I'll be very quick, Madam Chair.

I want to say what other members have said: I support the motion.

I think it's important for the Auditor General to have the resources she needs, particularly given the fact that there has been an expansion of program spending to address COVID-19.

I just want to put that on the record.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly Block]

Thank you very much, Mr. Blois.

Madam Clerk, because we are in a virtual environment, can you please advise on how we will proceed with the vote on this motion?

[The Clerk]

It appears that there is consent to adopt the motion.

If there is, we can go by consensus; otherwise, we would have a recorded division.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly Block]

I agree with you, Madam Clerk.

I believe everyone is giving a thumbs-up that we do have agreement to support this motion.

(Motion agreed to)

Thank you very much.

Mr. Lawrence, I'm not sure if you have any time left.

Madam Clerk, do you have the clock still running, or are we through the six minutes?

[The Clerk]

The time has expired.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly Block]

Thank you very much. I assumed so.

We will move to Mr. Fergus to carry on with the questioning of the witnesses.

Mr. Fergus, you have five minutes, please.

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Point of order, Madam Chair.

Did Madam Clerk continue counting Mr. Lawrence's time after the motion was read? It seems to me that Mr. Lawrence did not use up his five minutes presenting his motion. So he should normally have some time left for discussion.

[The Clerk]

I set the timer for five minutes when he started and it went off during the debate.