Madam Speaker, on March 10, I put a question to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services regarding government spending. There were reports in the newspapers about Public Works and Government Services Canada having agreed to pay rather step bills. Even the minister said that she found these expenses to be unreasonable and over-the-top.
Then she said: “This type of contract is awarded and managed by the department and not by the minister.” Such a statement is a clear abdication of ministerial responsibility, which is totally contrary to the main principles of our parliamentary system in Canada.
Indeed, the minister is trying to shift responsibility for these expenses to our civil servants. But they are not the ones who have to account to the House; the Minister of Public Works and Government Services is.
I have no intention of giving a lecture on ministerial responsibility. I will simply commend to the minister a document entitled “Responsibility in the Constitution,” which deals with ministerial responsibility. It is still topical, even though this Privy Council Office document dates back to 2003.
The history and Constitution of Canada cannot be manipulated, something I am sure our friends across the way would do if only they could. Here is an excerpt:
In our system of parliamentary and cabinet government, ministers are constitutionally responsible for the provision and conduct of the government. This is to say that through the law and the convention of the constitution, power and hence responsibility are concentrated in the hands of ministers... Our system of parliamentary and cabinet government is, therefore, based on the constitutional responsibility of ministers to the elected House of Commons...
After the adoption of the Federal Accountability Act, the Prime Minister presented a guide entitled “Accountable Government: A Guide for Ministers and Secretaries of State”. In his message to ministers and parliamentary secretaries, he declared, and I quote:
in Canada’s system of government, the principles of accountability have no greater expression than in Parliament, to which Ministers of the Crown are individually and collectively responsible and accountable. You are expected to demonstrate our Government’s respect for Parliament, and help strengthen its effectiveness as our system’s foremost institution of law-making and accountability, through close and conscientious attention to your parliamentary duties.”
A little bit further, under the heading “Powers, Duties and Functions”, we read, and I quote:
“Ministers are individually responsible to Parliament and the Prime Minister for their own actions and those of their department, including the actions of all officials under their management and direction, whether or not the Ministers had prior knowledge.”
Why did the minister abdicate her ministerial responsibilities and why did she try to put the blame on civil servants?