Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for St. Albert for his motion to introduce amendments to the Financial Administration Act, an act that will require all departments and agencies to table in the House their responses to the auditor general's reports on their activities.
I am pleased because there is no question that accountability is very important. It is so important that the Government of Canada has been working hard to make the public service more open, more responsive and more accountable.
The member will know that the Liberal red book committed the government to measure program results over time and to measure how well a government delivers its programs and services to
Canadians. As a result, accountability is now one of the cornerstones of a government-wide review process.
Before I explain how accountability to Canadian taxpayers fits into this review process, let me first give some historical background. I would like to take this opportunity to reacquaint my colleagues with all the hard work that has been done in the pursuit of accountability. Sometimes we forget to mention our achievements. They get lost in the blizzard of issues and papers we must deal with every day.
In 1993 the auditor general referred to program evaluation as "an essential part of government". He called for government wide evaluations to be strengthened. As a taxpayer myself, I fully support the auditor general in his push for increased performance and accountability information. I recognize the need for sensible and good control frameworks in federal departments and agencies. That is what makes for good government, one that is responsive to taxpayers, that does not tolerate waste and mismanagement, a government that is affordable.
In response to the auditor general's call for more reporting information, the public accounts committee called many witnesses to its hearings. We should commend the committee in its work. It did a thorough investigation and its report was unequivocal. It demanded more performance information. It supported the auditor general in recommending that departments and agencies step up their evaluation efforts. In essence, it called for greater accountability.
In the meantime, also in response to the 1993 auditor general's call for strengthening government review, the treasury board secretariat released its review policy. In this policy, the secretariat asked that all federal departments and agencies conduct reviews. It asked that they use performance information in their business planning processes and that they make this performance information accessible to the public. In short, the treasury board secretariat was calling for greater accountability.
In 1995 treasury board issued a revised expenditure management system. This revised policy required departments to articulate goals, targets and measures in key expenditure areas. It also asked each department to identify the reviews it would carry out over the coming year.
Beginning this year, 1996, this expenditure management system asks that departmental performance reports tie into the annual business plan process.
Put simply, departments and agencies must show Parliament and all Canadians whether the goals set in their business plans have been met and if not, why not. That, if I am not mistaken, is called accountability. All this is in response to the 1993 report of the auditor general.
It is clear to me that Parliament and the public service are very respectful of the auditor general's recommendations, that they have responded to his call for more reporting information in very concrete ways.
However, the push to make our public service more efficient, more responsive and more affordable did not stop there. Last year my colleagues on both sides of the House will recall the document Strengthening Government Review. It was tabled here last November by the treasury board president. The president's 1995 report of review lays out the government's commitment to accountability very clearly. It provides readers with a snapshot of all the different review tools being used in government departments and agencies. It looks at accomplishments made over the previous two years and it provides a guide on how reporting procedures can be further strengthened. This report calls for the integration of a review into the management cycle of government. It wants the review to permeate every level of government from frontline managers right to the top, to deputy ministers. This will result in even better reporting.
The goal is to make these reports, evaluations, reviews and internal audits available to the general public in a format that we can all understand. The goal is accountability. Let me take a moment to read what the then President of the Treasury Board told the House last November. He said: "The government is accountable to the citizens of this country. Performance information should be available to Parliament, departmental managers and central agencies. Our government is committed to delivering programs that work for the Canadian taxpayer".
As a result of these initiatives, accountability is now entrenched in the public service culture. It is now an integral part of the way we do business in Ottawa. The public accounts committee will keep a vigilant eye on this commitment, we can be sure of that. The auditor general will follow up on his 1993 recommendations and we can be sure of that as well. It is very clear that we have good reporting and accountability structures in place.
It is worth spending a few minutes to examine how accountability has become a cornerstone of the federal government's review agenda. We all know that program and service evaluations have played an important role in program review. They are essential components of the Getting the Government Right initiative the President of Treasury Board spoke of in the House just a couple of weeks ago.
Evaluations, internal audits and other review management tools will help to clarify federal roles and responsibilities. They will help to ensure that resources are devoted to the highest priorities. They will respond to public demand for better and more accessible
government and these review tools will help to deliver a public service Canadians can afford. This is accountability.
These review management tools, evaluations and internal audits do not just look at what is working and what is not. Done properly, they also recommend a course of action for correcting problems or missteps. Review is a continuous learning exercise. Government is always measuring what it does. It is always looking for new, more appropriate methods of delivering programs and services. It is looking for progress, not perfection.
Let me give an example to which members can relate. The estimates tabled with the recent budget are undergoing radical change. In response to calls from parliamentarians for documents that provide information in a user friendly format, a pilot project was launched. I was personally involved in that.
Two weeks ago we received six of what are called part IIIs from this pilot. Six departments agreed to change the way they have traditionally reported their activities. I urge everyone in the House to look at the part IIIs from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Agriculture Canada, Revenue Canada and Transport Canada. They will see that although these part IIIs were produced under tight deadlines each of these departments have made an honest effort to make them more readable and more user friendly.
In the drive to provide legislators with useful information and to become even more accountable to the Canadian public, more pilots are planned. We seek feedback on these projects. We will learn from those remarks. We are committed to providing information that is meaningful, easy to follow and that supports the government's agenda of openness and accountability.
As I have said, the government recognizes the need to get information into the hands of legislators and the public. It listens to recommendations made by the auditor general, the public accounts committee and members of the House. Recommendations are acted on, changes are made. Taxpayers of Canada expect no less.
I would like to take this opportunity to commend the public accounts committee. As our hon. friend can attest, it maintains a busy schedule. I think this committee issued 15 reports in 1995 and its work did not stop there. Each summer the committee asks for an activity update from all those departments and agencies which have not appeared as witnesses. It has, as it should, maintained a watchful eye. I expect it to continue this good work, to live up to the responsibility Canadians have vested in it.
Madam Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to put these facts on the record.