Public Accounts committee  It's certainly true that the summary-level financial statements of the Government of Canada don't typically get into a level of detail that might pick up an individual program. It is a consolidated statement. There is some segmented information that gives expenditures in total by

Public Accounts committee  I'll start. I may need to call upon colleagues.

Public Accounts committee  Okay. I'll give you the Reader's Digest version. In my office, the Office of the Comptroller General, basically we set the accounting policies. We help determine the disclosures in the final product that you see. We also guide departments in terms of the policies they must follo

Public Accounts committee  We've committed to provide our response to the committee by the end of March, and I understand we will meet that deadline.

Public Accounts committee  There are really three things that deserve comment, and there's only one of the three for which the jury is still out. First, with respect to accrual accounting, it has been in place for over a decade. The summary financial statements of Canada have been prepared this year, as f

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hello to you and the other members. Thank you very much for the invitation to appear before the committee to discuss the Public Accounts of Canada. I am pleased to be here in my role as Comptroller General of Canada. For the 14th consecutive year, the Au

Public Accounts committee  I am Jim Ralston, Comptroller General of Canada. With me are Sylvain Michaud, an executive director in my office, and Tom Scrimger, assistant Comptroller General.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, I think the question is for Mr. Nevison.

Public Accounts committee  The challenge with summary-level financial information in an organization the size of the Government of Canada is that there are millions and millions of transactions that occur every year. The challenge is to summarize them in a way that's meaningful and would address the questi

Public Accounts committee  I'll be very brief, Mr. Chair. First, all three volumes of the public accounts are compiled by the Receiver General housed in the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada. There is a large compilation, but in the sense that you refer to it, consolidation, the on

Public Accounts committee  In general, it's difficult to comment on a lapse without understanding how and why it occurred. Often with capital projects it has to do with the pace of the project that may have been affected for any number of reasons. You really can't speculate on it. It would require going to

Public Accounts committee  I can simply refer the member to section 10 of volume III of the public accounts, which contains some details on spending by ministry. That would be a starting point to identify different expenditures. It would of course be up to the analysts to make inquiries about the meanings

Public Accounts committee  As I say, I could refer you to section 10 of volume III. I guess it would be up to you to judge whether the information you seek is there, but that is what's available in the public accounts.

Public Accounts committee  I'll ask my colleagues to help me out if I lose some details in the process. Essentially, the whole process of putting together and auditing the public accounts is the intersection of two lengthy projects, one parallel to the other—the Auditor General and ourselves. It starts w

Public Accounts committee  I would agree.