Ralph Goodale

[Government Contracts, June 13th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, during the period in question, that particular firm was performing the function of an agency of record.

I have indicated that for future business I am anxious to develop a system that does not use agencies at all. Therefore not only would commissions be unnecessary, an agency of record would be unnecessary.

[Government Contracts, June 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, not only have I instructed my officials to make every effort to recover these funds, this file has also been referred to police authorities as I said a number of days ago.

[Government Contracts, June 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member has referred to comments that were made by the Auditor General of Canada, Madam Fraser. She is the one who called the internal audit section of my department “excellent, courageous and having done a critical piece of work”. It is that same internal audit section that went back into this program in the spring of this year to verify that the corrective action had in fact been taken.

[Government Contracts, June 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that under the provisions of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act we are not permitted to disclose those names on the Internet.

[Chrysotile Asbestos, June 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we want to be supportive of producers of Canadian natural resources. The government's policy is based upon the safe use principle which recognizes that, when properly handled, minerals and metals, including non-pliable chrysotile asbestos, can be used, reused, produced and recycled in a manner that is consistent with sustainable development and public safety.

My department's position is to accept material containing non-friable chrysotile asbestos. We select products on the basis of functionality, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and environmental friendliness over the life of the product.

[Government Contracts, June 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, again I would remind the hon. gentleman that we have launched a whole series of examinations into the nature of the difficulty here. We intend to get to the bottom of it so there can be transparency, accountability and verification of value for money.

As I have said now for two and a half weeks, we intend to develop a management system for the future that does not engage the services of outside commission agents.

[Government Contracts, June 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we are working on several fronts to identify the exact nature of the problem and the responsible authorities.

My department is conducting a review of that period under question which is between 1997 and 2000. Whenever there is anything questionable that comes to the attention of my officials, they refer it to the appropriate police authorities.

The auditor general will be commencing a government-wide examination of all advertising and sponsorship issues.

The treasury board is looking again at the issues of the governance framework and the management framework.

This is being addressed on all fronts.

[Government Contracts, June 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we have indicated that we have found the practices identified in the past to be unacceptable and that we have launched the appropriate inquiries, investigations and corrective procedures to make sure that first, all those problems are thoroughly ventilated and second, that corrective action is taken so that they do not occur again.

[Government Contracts, June 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is inviting the government or others to draw conclusions before the police have finished their work, before the auditor general does her work, before departmental reviews are completed, before treasury board finishes its work.

I would indicate that we have launched a whole series of the appropriate examinations to find out exactly what transpired, to make sure that the problems are identified and then properly fixed for the future.

[Government Contracts, June 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the internal audit that was conducted by my department in the year 2000 indicated that there were certain treasury board procedures that had not in previous years been respected. It was the recommendation of that internal audit that those deficiencies be corrected. During the course of the following months, those corrections have been made.