Evidence of meeting #159 for Public Accounts in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was accounts.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Deputy Minister, Department of Finance
There's a cost-benefit analysis that would be included, and a regulatory impact assessment that's done with all regulations. That would have been submitted to the Treasury Board.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
An economic impact analysis has been done done. Can you table that with this committee as well?
Deputy Minister, Department of Finance
That would be with the Treasury Board. I'll have to check what I can table. It's been submitted to the Treasury Board, so it may be a cabinet confidence.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
It would be nice to know that.
Last week, the Parliamentary Budget Officer said that the government's GST tax trick, as I like to call it, would cost as much as $2.7 billion if a province with an HST asked for compensation. Has the government given your department any indication that they intend to compensate provinces that have not waived their compensation requirement?
Deputy Minister, Department of Finance
We have put forward in the fall economic statement the cost of the federal portion. The government has indicated that provinces that wish to join can do so by paying it for themselves.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
There are some that have said they would not waive the requirement.
Have you forecast following through with your compensation requirement?
December 18th, 2024 / 11:50 a.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Finance
I'm unaware of which provinces are—
Conservative
Deputy Minister, Department of Finance
Saskatchewan is not a harmonized sales tax province, so they wouldn't be—
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Okay. Are there any other provinces that have said they have not waived their requirement?
Deputy Minister, Department of Finance
No, not to my knowledge, but I can't confirm that.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
What was the total cost of renting hotel rooms for refugees and asylum claimants in fiscal year 2023-24?
Deputy Minister, Department of Finance
I don't have the answer for that. Maybe one of my TBS colleagues would have that.
Conservative
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
How many refugees and asylum claimants were housed in hotel rooms in fiscal year 2023-24?
Comptroller General of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
We'll come back with an answer to the committee in writing.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
You will table that with the committee.
What was the total cost of per diems for refugees and asylum claimants in fiscal year 2023-24?
Comptroller General of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
We'll come back to the committee with an answer.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Williamson
Thank you. That is your time, Ms. Rempel Garner.
Mr. Drouin, you have the floor for five minutes.
Liberal
Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank the witnesses, who agreed to appear on short notice. I'm glad they received the invitation on Monday, at least. They had more leeway than we did, but that's not their problem. It's my problem and it's because of our chair, whom I tease amicably.
I have a question for the comptroller with regard to the tabling of the public accounts.
I know they should have been submitted one month before. You've raised large financial transactions as a potential excuse for the reason and rationale that we couldn't table the public accounts in time, but understanding that, are you guys changing your internal processes to ensure that we table the public accounts in a timely fashion and that we respect the October 15 date from this committee that we set out to respect?
Comptroller General of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
I started in this position on April 15, 2024, and year-end was March 31, 2024, so I was not there for the fiscal year we just tabled. Obviously, I needed time to look at the transactions and make sure that I was comfortable with them.
Having said that, as you said, the commitment made by the former CG was to table the public accounts by October 15, 2025. We still have that commitment, and, yes, we are looking across the departments and the Crown corporations included in the public accounts to make sure we have the proper controls, the proper mechanisms, and are able to speed up the process this year.
As the Auditor General mentioned in her commentary this year, my office should have a stronger role in working with CFOs and deputy heads, and that's the commitment we have. We accept that observation, and we'll make sure that next year we are in a better position to table earlier.
Liberal
Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
All right. Thank you very much for your answer.
Mr. Chair, I'd like to submit a motion, which is very short. I hope that the committee will be able to make a decision on it quickly, and then come back to the questions. You must see where I'm going with this, because we've been having trouble getting information for some time now. So I'm obliged to frame your role as chair. It's not because I want to, but the other members seem to be getting information before we do.
I therefore move:
That, with the exception of a meeting called in accordance with section 106(4), no meeting of the committee or subcommittee may be held during the adjournment of Parliament from December 19, 2024, to January 26, 2025.
This is simply to put some guardrails around your role as chair, because the way we're currently operating doesn't allow me to do my job.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Williamson
This motion is out of order. We're here to hear from witnesses today, Mr. Drouin. This is not time for committee business, so I'm ruling your motion out of order.