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Table 7: Response to Parliamentary Committees and External Audits

Government Response to the Twelfth Report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts

As has been the case for the previous seven years, the Auditor General issued a "clean" opinion on the financial statements. The Government of Canada continues to demonstrate leadership in financial reporting, and the Committee commends the Government of Canada for the consistent quality of its financial statements.

In addition to her opinion on the financial statements, the Auditor General usually raises issues that concerned her during the course of the audit in a section called "Other Matters." These issues are not reservations of her opinion on the fairness of the financial statements but are of importance to Parliament and to the future financial reporting of the Government of Canada. This is the second year in which the Auditor General expressed no pressing concerns.

The report recommends that the Government of Canada present to Parliament a model of accrual budgeting and appropriations.

Government Response to the Fourteenth Report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts

In accordance with the Auditor General Act, the Auditor General tables her reports in the House of Commons several times per year. To preserve the privilege of parliamentarians to receive the information before it is made available to the general public, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) holds an in camera session with parliamentarians and a media lockup on the tabling date. On numerous occasions, however, information about select audits has been leaked to the media before these briefings and before the tabling of the reports in Parliament.

The report recommends that the Treasury Board of Canada, in consultation with the OAG, adopt a strong policy (including sanctions) regarding security requirements for handling of draft reports.

Government Response to the Sixteenth Report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Each spring, departments table annual reports on plans and priorities (RPP) to explain how they intend to use the funds voted to them by Parliament for the coming fiscal year. The RPP contains numerous performance indicators and targets that departments use to track how well they are doing.

Each fall, departments table annual departmental performance reports (DPR) that are intended to demonstrate the results they have achieved with the funds that Parliament provided in the previous fiscal year. DPRs demonstrate how departments are doing against the performance targets set out in their RPPs.

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts has a mandate to review the RPP and DPR of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG). The Committee has made a regular practice of reviewing these documents because it has an important role to play in holding the Auditor General and her Office to account for their performance on behalf of Parliament and the citizens of Canada.

The report recommends that the Secretariat review the implementation level of Auditor General report recommendations; establish a clear bargaining mandate and envelope whereby the OAG would be permitted to negotiate with its union bargaining units independently; and improve departmental performance reports for the use of parliamentarians and committees.

Government Response to the Nineteenth Report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts

The Treasury Board is a committee of the Privy Council with a statutory base set out in the Financial Administration Act. The Treasury Board, supported by its Secretariat, functions as the government's management board and oversees the operations of the entire federal government. It performs this oversight role from three perspectives: expenditure management, management performance oversight, and as the principal employer of the core public administration.

The Public Accounts Committee decided to conduct a study into the roles and responsibilities of the Treasury Board and its Secretariat and the tenure of deputy ministers.


Title Description

Audit-Movement of Public Servants between the Federal Public Service and Ministers' Offices

Government-wide audit

Audit of the Movement of Public Servants Between the Federal Public Service and Ministers' Offices

Initial scoping report for government-wide audit

Audit―EX Appointments

Government-wide audit

Audit―Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP)

Government-wide audit


Table 8: Response to the Auditor General of Canada, including to the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD)

2007 May Report of the Auditor General of Canada

Chapter 1―Use of Acquisition and Travel Cards
Chapter 3―Human Resources Management―Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada

2007 October Report of the Auditor General of Canada

Chapter 1―Safeguarding Government Information and Assets in Contracting

2007 October Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Chapter 1―Sustainable Development Strategies