Public Accounts Committee on June 16th, 2025

[The Clerk of the Committee, Natalie Jeanneault]

Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(3)(a), as the clerk of the committee, I will now preside over the election of the chair.

I must inform members that the clerk of the committee can only receive motions for the election of the chair. The clerk cannot receive other types of motions, entertain points of order or participate in debate.

We can now proceed to the election of the chair.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the chair must be a member of the official opposition.

I am ready to receive motions for the chair.

Go ahead, Ms. Kusie.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

I would like to welcome the new committee members.

I would like to nominate Mr. John Williamson, please.

Thank you.

[The Clerk]

Are there any further motions?

Seeing none, it has been moved by Ms. Kusie that Mr. Williamson be elected as chair of the committee.

Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Williamson duly elected chair of the committee.

I invite Mr. Williamson to take the chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Thank you.

It's nice to see everyone.

Congratulations to everyone on their re-election or election to Parliament. This is one of the most important functions of our parliamentary system: the establishment of committees throughout Parliament, both on the House of Commons side as well as on the Senate side.

I want to thank all of you for your confidence in me to serve as chairman of the public accounts committee. It's something I enjoyed doing in the last Parliament, and I'm certainly pleased to pick it up again.

I see a number of new members on both sides of the aisle, and I think it's going to be an interesting committee going forward. My door is always open to discuss with you ideas or concerns that you might have about the committee.

We have a lot of work ahead of us. I know that Ms. Yip can attest to that. Reports from the Auditor General that have literally piled up due to the elections and events that have happened since last year, so we have no shortage of work. I can see that we have a good team of people on both sides who are ready to take it on.

I’ve been speaking French for a few months now. However, back home, we speak English. In fact, the name of my constituency is pronounced the English way. My constituency is where Champlain spent his first winter, even before arriving in Quebec City. Although New Brunswick is a bilingual province, my area is English‑speaking. So please bear with me when I speak French. It’s my second language.

Having said that, I'm pleased to conduct this business in either official language, and I look forward to working

with my colleagues on both sides.

As well, I want to thank the entire team here, from the clerk to the interpreters and everyone in between. They make this committee work. Because we work at Parliament's schedule, there can be sudden changes and last-minute changes, so in advance I thank everyone for always conducting their work professionally, making us look professional and conducting meetings in an orderly manner. Thank you again.

I'm sure that the clerk will learn some of my habits. Again, I try to operate a professional operation, as well, and to treat all members of Parliament from all sides with the respect they have earned and deserve.

As usual, there's that old story that Ronald Reagan used to tell when he was asked if he was the most powerful man in the world. He would say that, no, the most powerful person in the world was the person who put the agenda and the speaking notes in front of him every single day. On that note, I'll turn to the notes that the clerk has provided to me this morning so that we can proceed here as a properly functioning committee.

If the committee agrees, I would invite the clerk to proceed with the election of the vice-chairs. I'm seeing general agreement on this.

[The Clerk]

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the first vice-chair must be a member of the government party.

I am now prepared to receive motions for the first vice-chair.

Go ahead, Monsieur Lemire.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

I would like to nominate Jean Yip, the Liberal Party member for Scarborough—Agincourt.

[The Clerk]

Are there any further motions?

Seeing none, it has been moved by Monsieur Lemire that Ms. Yip be elected as first vice-chair of the committee.

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Ms. Yip duly elected first vice-chair of the committee.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[Jean Yip, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Thank you, everyone.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Ms. Yip, would you like to say a few words just off the top? There was no chance for you to decline the nomination, just like there wasn't for me, but I'm glad you accepted it one way or the other.

I don't know if you have any words you'd like to say. It's not obligatory.

[Jean Yip, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

I'm happy to be back and to be with some very familiar faces. I want to welcome some new faces on our side, your side and over there.

You'll find this to be a very interesting committee. I'm certain you will learn a lot and I hope we can all work together.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Thank you.

I'll turn things back over to the clerk.

[The Clerk]

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the second vice‑chair must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition.

I’m now prepared to receive motions for the election of the second vice‑chair.

Mr. Housefather, you have the floor.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

I would like to nominate Sébastien Lemire for the position of second vice‑chair.

[The Clerk]

Are there any further motions?

Apparently not.

It has been moved by Mr. Housefather that Mr. Lemire be elected as second vice‑chair of the committee.

Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

[The Clerk]

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Lemire duly elected second vice‑chair of the committee.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Congratulations, Mr. Lemire.

Would you like to say a few words to the committee?

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to tell Gérard Deltell that I’ll take great care to learn the indigenous name of his constituency.

I’m a member of the second opposition. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that we miss the NDP. However, its absence on the committee is noticeable.

Mr. Chair, you said that the most powerful person wasn’t necessarily the chair, but the person who prepares the chair’s notes. I thought that you would say that the most powerful people are the members who sit on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, because they can hold certain people to account. Ensuring transparency is a key value in a democracy. It’s a particularly fine challenge for me. That said, I feel that I’m keeping the seat warm for my former colleague from Terrebonne, Nathalie Sinclair‑Desgagné, who has filed a legal challenge to the election result. In the meantime, I’m here and I’m honoured to fulfill my duty.

I want to thank all the members for their trust in me.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Thank you, Mr. Lemire.

You’re absolutely right. Committee members decide on all matters relating to our committee.

I would like to welcome everyone to the first meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. I think everyone here is in person; nobody is on Zoom. Members do have that option to join remotely, except for the chairs of all House of Commons parliamentary committees.

Before we begin, I would like to ask all participants to read the guidelines written on the updated cards on the table. This is with respect to the translation and the audio system. These measures are in place to help prevent audio and feedback incidents and to protect the health and safety of all participants, including the interpreters. You will also notice a QR code on the card, which links to a short awareness video.

This is a rather important matter. The interpreters do yeoman's work ensuring that debates are free-flowing here in both official languages. That said, if we are not careful, we can do harm to the interpreters if there is audio feedback. If you don't need the interpretation or the earpiece, just put it aside. If you do use it—you are certainly entitled to, and we encourage you to, just for clarity—please be sure that the earpiece is well away from the microphone when you are speaking. This is something I will remind members of frequently, usually at each meeting before we begin.

I have some general comments.

I would like to remind participants of the following points: Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking, and please address all comments through the chair.

I am just going to check with the clerk about next steps, because I think there are a couple of routine motions that we need to pass in order to get the committee business rolling in the days, weeks and months ahead.

We have a number of routine motions. I would ask members, if they would like to speak to any of them, to flag me or the clerk. That's true whether you are here in person or online. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order.

I suggest the next order of business is that the committee proceed with the adoption of its routine motions, of which there are many. You were sent them in the last couple of days by the clerk. These can be moved individually or they can be moved as a group, but I will turn it over to members to decide how we proceed.

I recognize Mrs. Kusie.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Chair, I would suggest we go one by one. I think that it can be a quick voice vote on each one. I don't think a recorded vote is necessary as we move through each of them. This is just so we are all aware of them and we're not doing a sweeping motion. You could just read them into the record and we could agree on a voice vote, if my colleagues are okay with that.

I think that it’s still worthwhile to review the motions.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Is that agreed?

All right.

Just as a warning, the bells will go in 10 to 15 minutes. We have a couple of options. We could, sometimes with unanimous consent, continue the meeting until we're a little closer to the actual vote, or we can revisit this. If we want to package them all to get them done, then we don't have to come back later. I will look to the members for that. I will attempt to read quickly as well.

Just one second.

Mrs. Kusie, I will need a mover for each one. It can be you or a member of the official opposition or a government member.

It could even be our friend from the Bloc Québécois.

Mrs. Kusie, you have the floor.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

I certainly do not want to make this any more laborious than is necessary. I'm seeing that there are probably a dozen routine motions, if I had to estimate, upon reviewing this, so perhaps I would suggest this: Would it be possible for me to make a motion for you to read them into the record and have a voice vote at the conclusion of reading them into the record?

Again, I would just provide this option so that participants are aware of the routine motions.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

I'm looking around. Is that fine? It is. All right.

I will read fast. I might even have the clerk pick up at some point.

I will begin with analyst services:

That the committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the Chair, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.

This motion concerns the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure:

That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five members, namely the Chair and one member from each recognized party; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

I'll go back to analyst services for a voice vote on the following:

That the committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the Chair, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.

In our case, it will be two analysts.

(Motion agreed to)

Gentlemen, would you like to join us, please?

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!