House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2006, with 46% of the vote.
Public Service October 3rd, 2003
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General was very clear this week. She said not to generalize problems found in the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to the whole public service. This is not me who is saying that. The Auditor General is saying it.
This is exactly what the member is doing. This is not a general problem across the public service. For the Officer of the Privacy Commissioner, we have said that we will implement all the recommendations of the Auditor General.
Public Service October 3rd, 2003
Mr. Speaker, not only do we have a policy but we received the first annual report of the Public Service Integrity Officer. Dr. Keyserlingk has recommended a legislative framework for his actions. At the same time he said that he needed some further analysis to suggest any model to the Canadian government.
We have a working group, led by Professor Kernaghan, that will report to me in 2004, and I took the commitment to submit those recommendations directly to parliamentarians so they can have a say in it.
Former Privacy Commissioner October 1st, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I want the hon. member for Châteauguay to make the distinction between the Public Service Commission, which reports directly to Parliament, and the Treasury Board Secretariat, which plays a role in monitoring the financial administration of the entire government.
This role has always been limited when it comes to officers of Parliament. The current situation is encouraging us to take a closer look at accountability and oversight as they relate to all officers of Parliament.
Former Privacy Commissioner October 1st, 2003
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General's report makes recommendations to everyone: the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Public Service Commission, the Privy Council and the Treasury Board Secretariat.
In November 2002, the Treasury Board Secretariat was asked to adjust the salaries of employees, which is a standard practice in the course of day to day operations, within all departments, because we negotiate collective agreements and salaries have to be consequently adjusted accordingly.
So, there was nothing to lead us to suspect any abuse within the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. What is important now is that action is taken to correct these abuses.
Former Privacy Commissioner October 1st, 2003
Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois has a general tendency to exaggerate, instead of looking at the facts and acting accordingly.
I repeat that the indications we had been given did not lead us to believe what happened at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. In fact, nobody could believe it. The Auditor General herself was very surprised by her findings. I think that all of us, parliamentarians as well as the government, should learn from what happened.
Former Privacy Commissioner October 1st, 2003
Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that we do not monitor officers of Parliament the same way we monitor departments in general.
That having been said, it is very clear that if there has been abuse or wrongdoing, the appropriate measures have to be taken. That is what we will be doing with the interim commissioner. The indications we had been given did not lead us to believe that public funds were being misused, as the Auditor General found out.
Treasury Board October 1st, 2003
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my government I will commit to do whatever we need to do to protect employees who disclose wrongdoings. We want employees to do that without fear of reprisals.
We will have recommendations in January 2004. I will expect parliamentarians to look at them and make final recommendations to the government.
Treasury Board October 1st, 2003
Mr. Speaker, we have said that we are very distressed with the findings of the Auditor General and that we will implement each of the recommendations.
After the report of the government operations committee, we hired an outside consultant to look at the management practices and how we would implement each recommendation in co-operation with the interim commissioner, especially to recover funds for the performance management awards, the leave expenses and the hospitality and travel expenses. We will implement each recommendation.
Former Privacy Commissioner September 30th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, we know the hon. member for Châteauguay likes to exaggerate. Could we stick to the facts? All of the points raised today were discovered by parliamentarians as the result of an investigation carried out by parliamentarians, who then asked the Auditor General to act.
In her evaluation, the Auditor General makes some highly specific recommendations to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, which reports to Parliament, to the Public Service Commission which reports to Parliament, and as well to the Treasury Board Secretariat—
Former Privacy Commissioner September 30th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, once again, we are mixing apples and oranges. The Public Service Commission reports directly to Parliament. When it carries out an audit and finds staffing shortcomings, the organization in question must take corrective measures, directly. The commissioner is an officer of Parliament.
That said, there are recommendations relating to the Treasury Board Secretariat in the Auditor General's report, and it is clear that, with our interim Privacy Commissioner, we have already undertaken to implement all necessary measures to remedy the shortcomings pointed out.