Public Accounts committee  I would raise with the minister any case that went beyond making an honest judgment of how to act within the rules. Clearly, if there were any evidence of something untoward or fraudulent--a problem or anything beyond the scope of what was doable--we would raise that alert. Even

Public Accounts committee  Absolutely, and I would exercise that responsibility with or without the Accountability Act, as I have in the past.

Public Accounts committee  Right.

Public Accounts committee  I believe that a contract of this nature does require judgment, and the person making that decision understood that, and he made a judgment.

Public Accounts committee  I concurred that the person who was responsible for making a judgment made a judgment, and I didn't disagree with that.

Public Accounts committee  I did. I thought the process followed to make this contract was acceptable.

Public Accounts committee  Well, I didn't disagree with it. It's an important distinction, Mr. Williams. I appreciate your patience on it, but certainly there was nothing in the process.... Everybody in the department followed the guidelines. The minister's office and minister's chief of staff made a decis

Public Accounts committee  Well, I think, again, there was no disagreement with the minister or his office on what they did. They followed due process.

Public Accounts committee  Yes.

Public Accounts committee  I'm actually not saying that. Let me just be very clear on this, Mr. Williams. As the accounting officer for the department, I want to make sure that all the appropriate due diligence is done, but I also want to reflect the reality that this authority is delegated to the ministe

Public Accounts committee  That is a key point for our review. I think I will just give a little context for it. First of all, as the accounting officer, I make sure that I have adequate controls for the entire budget of the Department of Finance, including the review and accounting for the minister's o

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Williams, I have acknowledged that to you in this committee before—and before the act existed. We're ready to be accountable for our administration.

Public Accounts committee  Well, there is a very big difference between interfacing with the minister's office on their administration—

Public Accounts committee  Do the rules apply to the exempt staff in a minister's office? Right, these contracting rules apply to the exempt staff in the minister's office.

Public Accounts committee  They can't say that at all. They must not; they must be accountable for their decisions.