Government Operations committee  Yes, that makes sense in a democracy that takes the management of public resources seriously.

Government Operations committee  That was a research report. The individuals who participated on that committee were from the budget community across Canada, including the Government of Canada. They were kind of doing a self-examination of what they were doing in the various jurisdictions with respect to accrual budgeting primarily.

Government Operations committee  There is an international body called the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions, and they audit each other on a rotating basis.

Government Operations committee  One thing, maybe to clarify, is that right now, the appropriations are the authority to use public funds, so cash. An appropriation that is accrual-based is giving the authority to use public resources. As Stephenie mentioned, it's granting a bigger authority in some ways and tying it to, for example, an income statement of a department that has revenues, expenses, and outcomes that are supposed to happen as a result of getting those revenues and incurring those expenses.

Government Operations committee  No. In preparation for this, one of the things we looked at were some other Westminster-based democracies. What we do at CPA Canada is set standards for the financial statements. We don't set standards for the budget or the estimates, but we do recognize accountability is improved if they're all on the same basis.

Government Operations committee  Actually, I'm going to pass it to Ms. Fox, because she will be doing the testimony. I'm just here to help, if need be.