I can see two issues: how the public accounts committee can help—and I will get to that—and collection methods and standardizing.
I think it's important that every federal department have a way of tracking this, and I think it's important for all public servants to know why monitoring is happening on who is in the building and when. It is about space optimization, and there are many elements on a day-to-day basis from a security standpoint. I want to know how many of our employees are in our buildings should something happen. That's a basic first step, but I also want to be able to contribute to rightsizing our space.
I think there should be two motivations, and that's why having it standardized would be helpful. Right now, many buildings are very different—there are different security mechanisms when you walk in—but there has to be a way we can do it. We listed in exhibit 3.2 the different ways it's being done. Some organizations are using many of them. I think it's really up to the government to pick one or two and then sort that out.
How can the committee help in this? The hearing next week is a great place to start, but then it's about continued follow-up on updates and on progress on action plans and commitments made and, when you don't see good progress, another hearing. The committee has the ability to make sure the public service is being accountable for the commitments they've made in response to the recommendations from our work.