Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, I can tell you that what the honourable member is doing, what the Conservatives are doing, is shameful. This is a case that is before the courts, and to be engaged in—

Government Operations committee  —mudslinging compromises the ability for that case to be tried effectively.

Government Operations committee  This is very important, Mr. Chair. My colleague, the Minister of Public Safety, has repeated in the House quite clearly, and he's right—

Government Operations committee  This is known as sub judice. It has been cited in the House by governments of different stripes over the years.

Government Operations committee  This case is before the judiciary [Inaudible-Editor] extended, and the prosecution—

Government Operations committee  Brian may want to add something on that.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair and Mr. Deltell, I will not violate cabinet confidences, but I have said that, on an ongoing basis, my responsibility as Treasury Board president involves expenditure management, playing a challenge role, ensuring the integrity of government procurement practices—

Government Operations committee  It's not unique to one cabinet committee or another. That is my job. It is actually the job of the secretariat at the public service level, and we work with other departments and agencies to do that.

Government Operations committee  I'd like Brian's input on this.

Government Operations committee  First of all, on the estimates reform and the amount of detail we are now providing to parliamentarians in real time, again, any parliamentarian can verify the sources and uses of the budget implementation vote by department on an ongoing basis. We're providing a level of detail and explanation that is really important in terms of parliamentarians doing their jobs.

Government Operations committee  Certainly, it was important in terms of this year—the first year we do this—but again, there has been no diminution of reportage or detail or accountability to Parliament. On the contrary, in fact; it has seen an increased level of detail provided to parliamentarians and to Canadians.

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much for your question, Mr. MacGregor. Actually, so far, $2.9 billion has been allocated. That's 45% of the amount of the total vote 40, as Brian has informed me, which is on track. If you look at where we are in the fiscal year, that is, we are on track in terms of that.

Government Operations committee  The level of granularity and transparency on this is actually very significant.

Government Operations committee  There are a couple of things on this. One is the fact that we're updating this information on a monthly basis, so it's being updated in real time, accessible to parliamentarians. With this level of granularity, I'll just give you the example in terms of CRA: This funding will be used to increase capacity to enhance GST/HST compliance activities and to address tax obligations of non-residents on rental income earned in Canada.

Government Operations committee  I did this in my capacity and my responsibility as President of the Treasury Board.