Public Accounts committee  We're working on that now. Our priority has been to address first the items the Auditor General had identified--namely, that although we had a fairly robust management system in place for the criminal side, we didn't have anything resembling that on the civil side. So over the pa

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm pleased to appear before the members of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts to discuss chapter 5 of the Auditor General's report on managing the delivery of legal services to the government. Joining me today, as you indicated, Chair, are Yve

Justice committee  Mr. Ménard, I will start with the issue of the survey. I do not have all the details at my fingertips, but if I understood correctly, we are in fact sharing the costs of these surveys. On the one hand, there is the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, which is part of Statisti

Justice committee  I'm sure some of our officials have copies of that survey, and could pass it on to the minister. I do not know who paid for that, and what the percentage would be. A question was asked earlier on as to whether or not there were questions on the death penalty in the surveys. No,

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There's been a steering committee on justice efficiencies and access that has been working at an FPT level, Mr. Lee. They've examined three big subjects so far--one on mega trials, one on management of cases going to trial, and another report on early ca

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was just going to give quelques exemples de cas, madame. Pour celui des maritime helicopters, which involve a substantial commercial contract, we use the services of an outside legal agent. The same was true of the pension surplus case, which is now b

Justice committee  Thank you, Minister and Ms. Freeman. The figures for cost recovery appear in the documents for the first time this year, but it is not a new practice. The practice whereby we recover in part the cost of the services provided to departments and agencies has been in place for a lo

Justice committee  Last year we used the services of legal agents in about 260 cases. We follow a policy that sets out how and for what type of case we should turn to outside legal agents. It often happens if a dispute prevents our department from acting, for example. Normally the Department of Jus

Justice committee  Normally, for civil matters, the case would be a large one involving considerable amounts of money. I have some colleagues in the room who could perhaps come and whisper a few names in my ear while I'm answering your other questions.

Justice committee  Perhaps, if I might, Mr. Chair, the government appreciates that in fact there are costs related to the adoption of some of these legislative measures. Much of the impact will be felt by provinces and territories. As a result of that, there has been ongoing work in the federal-pro

Justice committee  I've given advice to this government on many things, and to this minister, but I don't think it would be appropriate for me to tell this committee the nature of the advice I've given confidentially to the minister.

Public Safety committee  Mr. Chair, certainly for 2002-03 there was no political involvement whatsoever in that decision.

Public Safety committee  Mr. Chair, in answer to the honourable member's request, Mr. Ganim would be pleased to take the microphone, I think, and speak to what happened.

Public Safety committee  Mr. Chair, we acknowledge the findings that the Auditor General has in this chapter on these apparent irregularities. We don't have details yet of where this may lead. The Auditor General has indicated several times this afternoon that this work is ongoing. We are cooperating of

Public Safety committee  Mr. Chairman, there was no documentation. I think there was a negative decision, a decision not to do something. At year-end the chief financial officer is beset by many people in the department who are hoping to convince him that their money ought not to lapse at year-end or a