Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, first of all, it's been six weeks--

Public Accounts committee  --so I'm fully accountable for my actions here. I have read it recently, in the context, frankly, of my orientation into the department. I take your point. We will be informed by the Auditor General's report, the views of the public accounts committee, and so on in preparing future iterations of this.

Public Accounts committee  You're raising an important point. Provinces have jurisdiction for emergency management, but it's recognized that sometimes provinces don't have the capacity. Sometimes the emergency transcends provincial or territorial borders, or sometimes it's in the national interest. We have mechanisms to work.

Public Accounts committee  We have, as you are aware, provided the Auditor General's office, and I believe members of this committee, with a detailed action plan on addressing each of the five recommendations. Clearly some of the items raised in the Auditor General's report predate that report and they have a certain history to them.

Public Accounts committee  Absolutely. Those three themes come directly from the items raised in the Auditor General's report and in our action items that have been identified. In the vast majority of cases we expect to experience significant progress, meaningful progress, in the coming year.

Public Accounts committee  I think the operating assumption was that the plan as it stood was sufficient, because it was being used at an officials level. I agree with the Auditor General, as does the minister, that this is not sufficient. We need to ensure that this enjoys the support of government.

Public Accounts committee  To my knowledge, the federal emergency response plan has not gone forward before.

Public Accounts committee  I do not think anything more needs to be done, nothing in the way of refining the plan.

Public Accounts committee  Just to repeat, we're going to seek that approval at the earliest opportunity. One should not assume that nothing was done, just because the plan was not approved. This plan has been in the hands of officials for some time now. They have been operating according to that plan in developing work.

Public Accounts committee  The member is raising a number of legitimate concerns, but we have to take these one at a time. There has been work on a federal emergency response plan for many years. Officials concluded that for all intents and purposes the plan was in good enough shape by June 2008. I believe that was the date.

Public Accounts committee  I don't want to pass judgment on what ministers might think. They have to have an opportunity to review it. When we as officials say “as soon as possible”, it's understood that we cannot dictate when items will go before ministers and cabinet for approval. But Minister Van Loan has said that this will be given sufficient priority.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, it is important to note that emergency management is a provincial jurisdiction, and that the federal government assumes certain responsibilities. We are working in close cooperation with other federal and provincial agencies and departments in order to identify all the risks that might affect the country.

Public Accounts committee  No, the exercises would be part of the overall budget of emergency management.

Public Accounts committee  That's correct.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, I'll be pleased to respond to that. There was indeed a lapse in 2008-09 of some $19 million on a base of $58.5 million. Some of that money was declared surplus at the beginning of the year in order to contribute to, effectively, a management reserve. This is a typical practice in government, a certain set-aside.