House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2015, with 70% of the vote.
Ethics April 26th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, what the committee decides to do is its business. I am pleased to inform the House that I think we are all alarmed at the expenses or the reports of these expenses. My office has been in touch with the Old Port of Montreal board and chair and we have also been in touch with the Office of the Auditor General. We have asked the Office of the Auditor General to conduct an independent audit into these allegations.
National Defence April 25th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I am familiar with the costing assumptions that the Parliamentary Budget Officer makes. My office has already met with him to ask his advice.
As I said, we accept the recommendation and the conclusions of the Auditor General. We fully expect the Department of National Defence to table its updated cost estimates for the F-35. When that is done, we would welcome the Parliamentary Budget Officer to review them.
National Defence April 25th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's advice on this, but I do believe the Auditor General's recommendation is a sound one and a good one. We fully expect the Department of National Defence to come forward, very transparently, with updated cost estimates for the government and for all of Parliament.
National Defence April 25th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, again, we have accepted the recommendations and the conclusions of the Auditor General. We expect full transparency and accountability from the Department of National Defence when it comes forward to table its updated cost estimates on the F-35 to all parliamentarians.
National Defence April 25th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General did pronounce on this issue. We have agreed with all his recommendations and his conclusions. We have put in place a seven-point plan to ensure full transparency and accountability. The number one recommendation is that the Department of National Defence update its cost estimates for the F-35 and table those in Parliament.
National Defence April 25th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear that we want this process to be transparent. I welcome the PBO.
I assume the Department of National Defence will be forthcoming with all of the documents necessary that the PBO needs and also in meeting the recommendation of the Auditor General, which is to update the cost of the F-35 and make that public in Parliament to all of us.
National Defence April 23rd, 2012
Mr. Speaker, we make a habit at Public Works, as the contracting authority for the government when we do military procurements, to engage fairness monitors, and they are there for exactly this reason.
They are monitors, not monsters. They do a very good job on our behalf, and we look to them for good, sound advice to make sure that the process is being followed in a transparent, open and fair manner.
As I said, I have taken the advice of the fairness monitor and also the advice of our legal team and deputy ministers from Public Works and National Defence, and the bidders will be communicated to shortly.
National Defence April 23rd, 2012
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the close combat vehicle procurement, this procurement is going forward exactly as it should. We always try to engage fairness monitors to ensure that the procurement is happening in a fair and transparent manner. I have taken the advice of the fairness monitor and the advice of deputy ministers of National Defence and Public Works, and a decision will be communicated to the bidders shortly.
National Defence April 5th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General's recommendation was that the Department of National Defence refine its cost estimates and table them in Parliament. We agree but we want to go much further than that.
This is a $9 billion acquisition, it is public funds, and we want to ensure that these cost estimates are also independently validated for parliamentarians. We expect nothing less and taxpayers expect nothing less.
This morning, the Auditor General said that we were moving in the right direction. He also said that his audit showed that no money was misspent, which is, of course, because no money has been spent on this acquisition yet.
National Defence April 5th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General said this morning that the government was moving in the right direction and we will continue to do that.
He also made the point that in his audit he found that no money was misspent because no money has been spent yet on the acquisition of this aircraft. No money will be spent on the acquisition of this aircraft because it is frozen right now until the Department of National Defence meets the recommendation of the Auditor General, which is to table updated cost estimates very publicly and transparently in Parliament. We will ensure that the secretariat independently validates those costs.