Government Operations committee  There should certainly be uniform standards with regard to the format of accounts. I hope that is the case in Canada. I would reckon it is. But it could well be that the quality of accounting varies a bit across departments, and then you would have to focus on rectifying that sit

Government Operations committee  In many cases, the committees are tasked with preparing recommendations that respond to the government proposals, and then there is a vote on them on the floor of the House. If you take, for example, the Swedish Parliament or the German Parliament, the finance committee—or the b

Government Operations committee  I just want to add one short observation, which is on the number of line items. Certainly, if you look at international evidence, my impression is, and you could do a study of this if you wanted to, that the number of lines you appropriate—so not the estimates, but the appropria

Government Operations committee  Is your question referring to the scrutiny process within Parliament or to the formulation process in the executive?

Government Operations committee  I think sometimes it's like wine: it takes time. If you want good wine, you need to give it time to mature. I think three months really is a minimum standard already. If you look at the U.S. Congress, they get the budget eight months prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. G

Government Operations committee  Thank you.