Mr. Speaker, the gun registry issue is important. The justice committee does have the tools to do that.
I know the hon. member he refers to has asked many questions. However it is up to the committee to dig into that and get the information. That is what did not happen early enough in the game.
The member makes a general statement that the estimates just do not tell members what is going on. Perhaps we should sit down and talk about how we should approach this. There are a couple of reports that recommend some changes.
The estimates is a book of the numbers but behind that book of numbers are plans and priority reports and internal reports. We can hear witnesses from any department that we want and as often as we want if we need explanations. We also have opportunities to either visit departments or the like. There are processes and there is a way to get all the information.
I do agree that in many cases the breadth of operations is such, such as Public Works and Government Services, that it is not possible to review it in its totality. One of the recommendations in the special report of the government operations and estimates subcommittee from the 36th Parliament was that we start emulating the approach of the Auditor General to reviewing the estimates, which is that we would do different aspects of each department each and every year. We would then get a blend and a mix and deal on a priority and risk basis. We would have a reasonable basis on which to make an opinion on the estimates, just as the Auditor General has a reasonable basis to opine on the financial statements.