Madam Speaker, first, I want to congratulate the hon. member for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier on his excellent presentation. Our new colleague, who is our deputy finance critic, has a lot of expertise, particularly since he recently took part in a prebudget tour and came to the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region. He explained a number of issues about which people in my riding may have wondered. I was very pleased and proud to see him, and also the hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, who also took part in the tour.
Today's issue was a source of great concern to our voters, including in my riding. Many economic development areas are currently affected in my riding of Jonquière—Alma and in the whole Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region. When we talk about these foundations and the fact that they are not audited by the Auditor General, people are entitled to be concerned. It is to their credit. Indeed, considering the astronomical amounts of money, the billions of dollars involved, we have every right to be concerned. We also have every right to think that it is important that these foundations be audited.
I am fortunate to sit on the Public Accounts Committee and to be able to check what the government does and how it spends its money. However, I want to focus on the Auditor General's mandate and her importance to the parliamentary process and healthy public management. I am very proud of the work the Auditor General can do. She clarifies a lot for us.
I call on all hon. members to join me in supporting this motion. This motion will help improve accountability and also ensure that the Auditor General can conduct this external audit.
At some point, we should perhaps the question the significance of having these types of foundations outside the government reporting environment.
Early in my career, I had the opportunity to be the director general of a major fund for the Government of Quebec. It had been created in the spirit of the Quebec youth summit. I was in charge of a $240 million fund to help young people in Quebec. I should point out that the Auditor General was involved in the activities. From the moment the fund was established, the Auditor General became involved in the process, even when the fund was being set up, to ensure, for the good of all young Quebeckers, that it responded to their needs and expectations properly.
Indeed, it is not always easy to work with someone as important as an auditor. Sometimes it can disrupt the department or the employees, but I believe it is always with the idea of having better accountability.
I also want to draw your attention to the objective of achieving results. It is essential to establish funds the way the government did with the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. Allow me to come back to this because I have already expressed my opposition to it. When funds are outside the government reporting environment, and existing agencies are given certain flexibility in using them, it is important to ensure their original purpose and the reasons they serve the public are respected. In my experience, I was lucky to have the important cooperation of the Auditor General.