Ralph Goodale

[Government Contracts, June 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the corrective measures were implemented about a year ago. They included a separate bank account and a turnover rate of no more than five days. Obviously, as evidence has shown in the House, these sorts of procedures are subject to audit either by the internal audit department of Public Works and Government Services Canada or indeed by the auditor general where that is appropriate.

[Government Contracts, June 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, that is a rather scurrilous allegation.

The Prime Minister has made it very clear that he wants this problem resolved. He wants the administration fixed where it was previously in error. He wants the overpayments recovered wherever they were made. If there was illegal conduct, he wants that referred to the police. Over and above that, he has invited the President of the Treasury Board to conduct a comprehensive review of the governance system and the management framework to make sure these problems are never repeated.

[Government Contracts, June 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I have described before in the House and elsewhere the methodical step by step approach that I am pursuing to get to the bottom of this matter to identify where the errors were made and to ensure that they are corrected and not repeated. There is a thorough departmental review being conducted by my department. The auditor general has indicated the scope of the work she will undertake. There are references to the police wherever that is necessary. The treasury board is examining the whole governance system and of course there is the work of the public accounts committee.

I am determined that we will correct the errors. We will recover the overpayments. If there is anything that raises legal questions, the police will do their job.

[Government Contracts, June 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. gentleman is referring to the results of the internal audit, those results were summarized and posted on the Internet in the fall of the year 2000. Some of those results were even published in the Globe and Mail , so it was hardly a secret.

As a result of that internal audit, various corrective measures were recommended, including a new and better way to handle this matter of interest payments. The government at the time took the corrective measures that were implemented a year ago.

[Government Contracts, June 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I indicated last week that this was obviously a bad business practice and one that should not have been included in the contracting procedure. Because of the finding that came through the work of the internal audit of my department, corrective measures were recommended. They included the establishment of a separate and distinct bank account and the turnover of any of these funds within a maximum of five days.

I am advised that those corrective measures were implemented about a year ago.

[Government Contracts, June 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, on the matter of the recovery of the amount in question, whatever that amount may be, I was asked this question in the House last week and I indicated that I would be examining the legal basis upon which a successful recovery could in fact be launched, and that legal examination is still underway.

[Government Contracts, June 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, there have been no such discussions to my knowledge.

On the question of the amount, I have asked my officials to do a calculation of the amount that could have been paid during that particular period. It appears to be a few thousand dollars. The calculation is not yet complete but I would be happy to report to the leader of the Bloc when I do have that arithmetic.

[National Defence, June 17th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, my department and the Department of National Defence are trying to proceed with this matter as rapidly as possible.

The question with respect to Mr. Miller was raised many months ago when he was first employed in the Prime Minister's office. It was made abundantly clear at that time that Mr. Miller would have absolutely no role with respect to this matter.

[Government Contracts, June 17th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the Treasury Board Secretariat and the President of Treasury Board do not sanction mistakes, errors and wrongdoing. They establish the proper standards for financial probity within the Government of Canada. Whenever errors are discovered in the administration of public funds, the errors are corrected, as we have been demonstrating.

Furthermore, the President of Treasury Board has been asked by the Prime Minister to re-examine the whole system of financial management and governance with respect to advertising, sponsorships and polling to ensure that it is indeed strong.

[Government Contracts, June 17th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the President of the Treasury Board is responsible for the overall financial probity of the government. Part of that system is the system of internal audits that are conducted by departments.

The difficulties with respect to sponsorships were in fact identified by the internal audit division of Public Works Canada, and it was the auditor general who described the work of the internal auditors of my department as excellent and courageous, obviously demonstrating that they did the job.