Government Operations committee  That's the way we've always done it. It goes to the concept of zero-based budgeting. Maybe we need to revisit those things, but let's not kid ourselves about the extent of the work that would involve. I don't mean to scare you off doing it, but it would be a pretty.... Over some

Government Operations committee  Well, I think I touched on it a little in the sense that the Treasury Board has done a good job in the last 10 years in trying to make the data more usable in terms of putting in multi-year information. We never even used to have that; you used to have to go and look at previous

Government Operations committee  Just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting that we not change just because we've done it that way. In terms of technology, we're not talking about simply putting the blue book online. We're talking about arranging the data in such a way that people can go at it from as many different

Government Operations committee  I haven't looked at the way other governments do it, but I'm certainly more familiar with how business collects intelligence, and its use of technology is extensive. Certainly I have to believe that you could just transfer over some of those principles and applications, but again

Government Operations committee  It certainly is an issue, I think, because the costing information isn't aligned to the same time period; as I said, it's very easy to miss the big picture for that reason. First of all, the financial cycle, the time, is mandated through the standing orders, but because of budg

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I sincerely want to thank the committee for the invitation to participate as a witness in your review of the process for considering estimates and supply. I guess I'm one of those rare people who actually really likes estimates. I've studied them extensiv

Information & Ethics committee  It is an issue that needs discussion. For clarity, my point had more to do with non-corporate boards. I think corporations are in a position to decide what structure they use for their government relations, and clearly, corporate board members are paid above expenses. What I was

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm not. The legislation is.

Information & Ethics committee  As soon as they're paid, and part of their job is advocacy, the 20% rule doesn't apply, so you can't make the argument that it's only a little bit of what they do. If it is any of what they do and they are paid a dime, now they are covered by the same rules as I am, and I do it f

Information & Ethics committee  On the other side of that, let's say you get a volunteer board that is extremely effective and well positioned to effect policy change. They don't have to register because they are not paid. That is an anomaly that needs to be looked at, at least.

Information & Ethics committee  I think they need to be considered if they are engaging in trying to influence the outcome of decision-makers. I guess the logic is why would you not include them? Again, I don't have an answer for that. They're there for some reason. They obviously have an interest in this. It m

Information & Ethics committee  Oh, no. If I left you with that impression, I apologize. That's not the case at all. Every time I file a communication report, it lists exactly who I'm acting on behalf of. It couldn't be clearer. You can go into that lobby registry and you can find out from consultant lobbyists

Information & Ethics committee  First, to clarify, when I got out of politics, it was only a one-year rule. It wasn't five. It's like anything else: There are probably some people who will have influence for the rest of their lives, just because of their personalities and who they are, and there are some people

Information & Ethics committee  I'm a graduate of it.