Public Accounts committee  The commissioner, having declared himself in terms of the interests of him and his organization, I understand that the RCMP itself is putting a case together for this. We're awaiting that. Once we receive that case, we will have to do the necessary sort of scrubbing and analysis.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, the first order of business is of course getting the material from the RCMP. I will need to take the time, and I'm not sure how long that time will be, and I cannot and am not going to box myself into a time corner, because we do other things in life as well, and I wan

Public Accounts committee  I can't commit to a timeline because I can't commit the minister, I can't commit the central agencies, and I could not commit the Prime Minister--

Public Accounts committee  I'm not aware of any direction coming from the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister's Office, and I'm quite certain that the central agencies are aware of the work that is going on in the RCMP--

Public Accounts committee  --and that ultimately they will see that.

Public Accounts committee  I wouldn't speculate on the timeframe. I think it's easy to underestimate. I have direct experience with this at the Canada Revenue Agency. The time it takes to actually shape these things, come up with the detailed planning...you've got to admit that this is easier said than don

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, very briefly, of course the views of the public accounts committee and others matter. It's all input. It's important input, but--

Public Accounts committee  --ultimately I need to have the time and the space to be able to put it all together and make sure that I'm giving the best advice I possibly can to the minister.

Public Accounts committee  First of all, if you look at all the institutions of government, there's nothing even similar to the RCMP, so we have to look at it on its own merits in terms of the proper governance arrangements. Certainly, you've already alluded to one of the big ones, that is, this is a servi

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Two things. One is, I could join the chorus of support for a board of management, but it's not my decision. We have to understand that it's not the minister's decision. It is the Prime Minister's decision. I'm pleased you're asking for some work on that. Bu

Public Accounts committee  No. I wanted to give you a second part to the answer. That is, before I can give my minister advice on something as significant as the establishment of a board of management for the RCMP, having a recommendation or even support...it doesn't really matter how many organizations or

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. The existing contracts with the provinces, territories, and municipalities have something referred to as a contract advisory committee. We have been working with the provinces and territories to put in place a much more significant capacity for provinces an

Public Accounts committee  I wouldn't call it co-management because there is an implicit recognition that this is a single institution, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The commissioner has to have the management authority to run that institution. But I think we've gone a significant way--and I think the

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, my role as deputy minister is to work with the agencies in the portfolio and develop advice for the minister. Then, in turn, it's the minister's determination whether he wishes to sponsor an idea moving forward with the government, and in this case the Prime Minister.

Public Accounts committee  In designing that piece of legislation, as you can imagine, a lot of work went into it. The government looked at complaints bodies that dealt with policing in Canada and abroad. Input was far-reaching to identify what the best ingredients were for such a commission. I believe tha