Public Accounts committee  Absolutely.

Public Accounts committee  Forget the legal opinion; those are the only two options, to my knowledge.

Public Accounts committee  The legal opinion was requested specifically by---

Public Accounts committee  Margaret Bloodworth, the Deputy Minister of Public Safety. The reason for that was when I alerted the minister to the possible need for supplementary estimates, it was incumbent on Margaret Bloodworth, the Deputy Minister of Public Safety, to get to know the facts. I subsequently

Public Accounts committee  The Deputy Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada had requested it from the Department of Justice.

Public Accounts committee  Her name is Margaret Bloodworth. She's the former Deputy Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada.

Public Accounts committee  It wasn't just the legal opinion. We had an accounting opinion, we had a legal opinion, and there were many discussions. From our perspective, what mattered was that there appeared to be a consensus emerging with all the parties at the table that the proper way forward was not

Public Accounts committee  First of all, I think you're correct on the years in question. Certainly for the years 2003-04 and beyond, when I was in charge of the Firearms Centre, we did not seek supplementary estimates, because we certainly did not plan to ever exceed our budget in any respect. But the co

Public Accounts committee  As the head of the centre, I make an attestation, along with the chief financial officer, to ensure that we're accurately reporting to Parliament. We certainly had the strong view that we were, in light of the feedback and discussions that were held. I should point out again tha

Public Accounts committee  It had not occurred to me, given that we had already engaged senior officials in Treasury Board, the Office of the Comptroller General, and the Department of Justice. So when all was said and done, I was quite confident, based on the balance of information, that the inclusion was

Public Accounts committee  As public servants we deal with policies and legal opinions, and while this may have been an unusual situation, as attested, when we make decisions we take all of the information into account, and that's precisely what was done in February with the right officials in order to rea

Public Accounts committee  No. I can give you a very clear answer on that. The genesis of the legal opinion was, as indicated earlier, when as the Commissioner of Firearms I raised the issue as indicated in the Auditor General's report. Questions were raised in the Department of Public Safety, in particul

Public Accounts committee  First of all, that would not be a normal course of events for a departmental deputy or a head of a department.

Public Accounts committee  Like any deputy head, if I concluded there wouldn't be sufficient money in the budget to get through the year, I would have a duty to take the necessary steps to advise the minister, as well as consult with the Treasury Board on the proper next steps. As indicated in the Auditor

Public Accounts committee  As reported in the Auditor General's report, the minister was—