Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My colleagues and I are pleased to appear before this committee today to discuss chapter 9 of the Auditor General's report on RCMP pension and insurance administration. With that in mind, I wish to recognize and acknowledge the importance of the Audito

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chairman, that is one of the recommendations that is ongoing. We are looking to determine how much of the work of little or no value that was invoiced needs to be returned, through Public Works, to the office that charged it. There is more than $270,000 paid back. Could I as

Public Accounts committee  My understanding around that—and I'm repeating this from a briefing—is that he felt an internal audit was a more appropriate way to begin to broach the situation.

Public Accounts committee  Sorry, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to add to that. We had been struggling with a number of issues around the statute of limitations as it applies to discipline in the RCMP Act for a period of time, with different interpretations at different levels of court. The clock may have st

Public Accounts committee  I wasn't privy to the discussions or the decisions around how this was dealt with, but I don't know that there was ever any consideration around taking a civil action. I would ask Mr. Gauvin to clarify this to a much more definitive degree from the accounting perspective, but

Public Accounts committee  You have my undertaking.

Public Accounts committee  Are you addressing the questioning--

Public Accounts committee  Thank you very much. In this circumstance, I've been advised that Chief Bevan may be better able to answer that question, specifically with regard to--

Public Accounts committee  As to the timing of that, I'll have to defer to Deputy Commissioner George.

Public Accounts committee  I think at the end of the day we will definitely...I believe you're right, that it hasn't been considered. We will have a look at that. My estimate of the money that is still outstanding is around $300,000. My understanding is that it is still being considered whether or not th

Public Accounts committee  We will have a look at it, but my understanding is, again, that the money never went missing or that it was never taken. It was vouchered in the wrong place in the government accounts. But certainly I take your advice, and we will have a look at that.

Public Accounts committee  I would not try to get into the decision-making process of the commissioner of the day. I don't think that would be helpful.

Public Accounts committee  I'm not sure what he used to make that decision, and it's difficult to say one way or the other. Certainly, to do two things at the same time can be difficult, but under those circumstances--

Public Accounts committee  It's my understanding as well that the whole scope of what went on wasn't clear until such time as the internal audit did its work.

Public Accounts committee  We very much adhere to the rules, and there are some fairly stringent sanctions for anybody who would ever go there.