Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, I am pleased to present the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.
Our committee examined chapter 23 of the report tabled by the Auditor General of Canada in November 1996, dealing with materiel management in the federal government. The report contains eight recommendations.
I merely wish to draw your attention to the following paragraph which, I think, accurately reflects what we wanted to say. The procurement and use of materiel is one of the federal government's costlier activities. It is therefore of vital importance that this activity be properly managed in order to keep costs to government and the taxpayers who fund it to a minimum. At the same time, these resources have to be intelligently managed in order to ensure that they deliver maximum value.
Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts is asking the government to table a comprehensive response to this report.