I call the meeting back to order.
The next series of motions have been emailed to you. I'm not going to pick them up today. In the interest of transparency and to give every member an opportunity to review them, I'm going to leave them. We'll come back to them. I'm not going to read them into the record because in the copy I have, there's a date that needs to be switched. You'll be receiving them electronically. We'll probably pick them up at the next meeting. That's the first thing.
Linked to that are the documents you received in camera. That means they're secret, so these documents should remain confidential. Ms. Yip will be very familiar with them. These are the reports that we had begun reviewing or that need to be addressed, or at least considered, by this committee going forward. We'll deal with these at a later date, either in the committee or in the subcommittee, depending on how members would like to proceed.
Another issue is that over the first weekend in September, there is an annual conference of auditors general and public accounts committees taking place in Saskatchewan. All of the auditors general from across the country attend, as well as public accounts committees from the federal, provincial and territorial legislatures. It's a three-day conference. It's really a two-day conference, but people typically arrive on Sunday and begin to leave on Tuesday. There's representation from all parties. I think there are four or five slots, but I can get back to you and the clerk.
If this is something you would like to participate in, please discuss it among yourselves and with your whips. It's a good learning opportunity, because we hear from the auditors general about the issues they're dealing with. For example, in my home province of New Brunswick, the courts just ruled against the auditor's access to certain documents that the auditor's office was attempting to review. That's something that I'm sure will be discussed this year. The conference looks at best practices. Information on that will be sent to you in the next couple of days.
I'm just going to check with the clerk, and then I'll wrap things up very quickly.
This is my last point, and the clerk's timing is very good. We are scheduled to have meetings on Tuesday and Thursday. I was not planning on calling a meeting tomorrow, but I was planning on bringing in the auditor and the environment commissioner on Thursday, which is pro forma, to update this committee on the nine reports that were just tabled in Parliament.
This normally happens the day the reports are tabled, and then we begin to hear from the departments in question. My solution to this unique situation of reports being tabled before this committee was set up is to hear only from the OAG, which would include the auditor and the environment commissioner, on those reports. If there is agreement to do that, I require one motion to pass it. Can I proceed? I'll read this, and then we can take some feedback. Otherwise, I could schedule a meeting tomorrow to deal with this.
I'm at the committee's discretion. If you'd like to come back tomorrow to deal with this, without prejudicing anyone, I could read this into the record. Why don't I start with that? Do we have agreement for that?
We do. Okay.
The motions have been sent by email. I’ll read them in both official languages if necessary.
I'll begin in English. This motion reads as follows:
That all organizations that have been subject to a performance audit or a special examination by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada provide a detailed action plan to address the audit recommendations which have been agreed to—including specific actions, timelines for their completion and responsible individuals—to the committee and the Office of the Auditor General of Canada within six months of the audit being tabled in the House of Commons;
That organizations that are invited to appear before the committee to discuss the findings of an audit should provide an action plan to the committee no later than 48 hours prior to the hearing;
That action plans and progress reports received by the committee be published on the committee’s website.
That is the motion. It really is routine. It just stipulates that departments that are subject to reviews and audits by the Auditor General provide action plans and feedback.
I will look for comments. I will seek your agreement to pass this, but I want to proceed slowly here just in case the government members in particular have any concerns.
Go ahead, Mr. Housefather.