Mr. Speaker, I hope that the member will take the opportunity in his final minute to correct the record. We did not turn down the request in committee to see people but in fact the committee voted unanimously to table that until the auditor general's report was complete and the member agreed. I hope the member will take the opportunity to correct this information.
The hon. member being in opposition has the liberty to make whatever statements he feels are important. However, when one is in government one has to be accountable, show prudence and good judgment with regard to matters. The government is not at liberty to discuss this matter because it has been referred to the RCMP. It would not be appropriate to make further comment on those items while consideration of an investigation is underway, simply not to jeopardize it.
I can comment on the broader issues. Here are the facts. Contrary to the allegations this is not a recent issue. We are dealing with contracts and files between 1997 and the year 2000. The difficulties that we are finding now in those files were identified in an internal audit which was started or commissioned by the department itself. Corrective action was taken.
The auditor general said, with regard to the quality of the report, that the internal audit section of public works was excellent and courageous. A subsequent internal audit was commissioned to ensure that those corrective measures that were specified were implemented and indeed they have been.
Let there be no question, mistakes have been made. Our job is to correct the situation so that we do not have these problems occurring ever again. If we find administrative problems they will be corrected. If there is any evidence of overpayment, we will recover the moneys. If there are legal questions they will and have been, where necessary, referred to the appropriate authorities such as the RCMP.
Today we have public works doing its own review of the 700 files between 1997-2000. The auditor general is doing her own independent review of those same files. The public accounts committee has commenced its own investigation on related matters. Treasury Board is looking at the management framework and the governance system.
To go forward we do need a better system. Many members have said, including the BQ members, that they like the sponsorship program but they are a little concerned about the method of delivery of support. We agree that the delivery system of using outside firms may not be the best way to do it. We are looking to change it. This is what we will correct in the future.