Government Operations committee  First, a unanimous committee report would be strong. A government initiative would be needed to implement the recommendations. The government's response to the last report was, to use an English expression “mealy-mouthed”. Winning conditions are characterized by a government th

Government Operations committee  I was referring to the parliamentary session. By parliamentary session, I mean that period between the call letters and the prorogation, but without whip interference.

Government Operations committee  As parliamentarians, there are various levels of seniority and expertise. You may want to get on with part of your life doing something else than appropriations for a full five years. There would be a chance for some membership rotation in those windows, but the chair should be t

Government Operations committee  Oh my.

Government Operations committee  I'll do whatever I can, Mr. Chair. Thank you for listening to me. I apologize for being a little winded on some of the answers.

Government Operations committee  I really like what you said about not playing in your sandbox properly. I think that sort of sums up my presentation. Of course, this is not a recent problem. It is not the first time I appear before such a committee and say so. Let's talk about British parliamentary systems. If

Government Operations committee  If the committee's mandate, the appointments and the chairmanship were permanent, you would be sitting at the same table for three or four years. A sort of camaraderie would develop around the table that is currently impossible. You would have to work together for three years. Yo

Government Operations committee  As you say, the committee would have a macroeconomic mandate. It could give its work as much scope as it wants or, in some cases, conduct a more thorough study. I was talking about considerations like government purchases. There are only 308 MPs. If we leave out parliamentary sec

Government Operations committee  This is not the first time I appear and say that there are too many committees. Some of them—which I will not name—exist only owing to political perception. You know as well as I do that those committees have a title, but that their existence is an attempt to please a specific gr

Government Operations committee  Since Canada is a two-chamber country with an unelected Senate, I would say that the Senate doesn't have the same spirit of accountability. Things are different in Australia, for instance, where the Senate is an elected body. Proportionality prevails. The majority is never overly

Government Operations committee  I'm not an international expert on budget-making, but I'll restate what I said. I believe the budget is a policy statement by the government on what it intends to do. It's not a binding legal piece of paper put on the table that the estimates have to match. There are things in th

Government Operations committee  We can agree to disagree, Mr. McCallum. I don't have a fundamental mental block. I just don't see what it adds to the parliamentary supply process to have a budget that mirrors the estimates, or vice-versa. I know how the cycle works in the bureaucracy. I don't imagine that the

Government Operations committee  It may be necessary to do it. I don't see what it adds to your role as an MP. It may make the Auditor General more comfortable, because he can read a bottom line that matches another bottom line.

Government Operations committee  Standing Order 108 came into being in the late 1980s. I believe it was 1987, following the adoption of the McGrath reforms under Mr. Mulroney. The idea was to give the committees the power to initiate their own studies within their remit, because before that, committees used to h

Government Operations committee  This new appropriations committee would, within 60 days of it being appointed, file a report to the House with a study plan for the next five years.