The House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP)

Date: October 28, 2022

Time: 1:00PM – 3:00PM

Location: Room 025-B, West Block and Webcast through Zoom (televised meeting)

Subject: Report 2 of the Commissioner on the Environment and Sustainable Development, Greening Government Strategy

Witnesses:

1:00p.m. to 3:00p.m.

Transport Canada

  • Michael Keenan, Deputy Minister of Transport
  • Ross Ezzedin, Director General, Air, Marine and Environmental Programs

Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada

  • Graham Flack, Secretary of the Treasury Board of Canada
  • Jane Keenan, A/ Executive Director, Centre for Greening Government
  • Malcolm Edwards, Senior Engineer, Centre for Greening Government

National Defence Canada

  • Bill Matthews, Deputy Minister
  • Nancy Tremblay, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Material
  • Saleem Sattar, Director-General, Environment and Sustainable Management

Office of the Auditor General

  • Jerry V. DeMarco, Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
  • Milan Duvnjak, Principal

Opening Remarks: Deputy Minister to deliver 5 mins opening remarks.

Question of witnesses:

For the first round of questioning, six (6) minutes (for both question and answer) to a representative of each party in the following order (24 mins):

  1. Conservative Party
  2. Liberal Party
  3. Bloc Québecois
  4. New Democratic Party

For the second and subsequent rounds, time allocation is as follows (25 mins):

  1. Conservative (5 mins);
  2. Liberal (5 mins);
  3. Bloc Québecois (2.5 mins);
  4. New Democratic Party (2.5 mins);
  5. Conservative (5 mins);
  6. Liberal (5 mins).

About PACP

When the Speaker tables a report by the Auditor General in the House of Commons, it is automatically referred to the Public Accounts Committee. The Committee selects the chapters of the report it wants to study and calls the Auditor General and senior public servants from the audited organizations to appear before it to respond to the Office of the Auditor General’s findings. The Committee also reviews the federal government’s consolidated financial statements – the Public Accounts of Canada – and examines financial and/or accounting shortcomings raised by the Auditor General. At the conclusion of a study, the Committee may present a report to the House of Commons that includes recommendations to the government for improvements in administrative and financial practices and controls of federal departments and agencies.

Government policy, and the extent to which policy objectives are achieved, are generally not examined by the Public Accounts Committee. Instead, the Committee focuses on government administration – the economy and efficiency of program delivery as well as the adherence to government policies, directives and standards. The Committee seeks to hold the government to account for effective public administration and due regard for public funds. 

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3) of the House of Commons, the mandate of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts is to review and report on: 

  • The Public Accounts of Canada; 
  • All reports of the Auditor General of Canada; 
  • The Office of the Auditor General’s Departmental Plan and Departmental Results Report; and, 
  • Any other matter that the House of Commons shall, from time to time, refer to the Committee.  

 

TC-related Committee activity within the last year

On February 3, 2022, the Committee met to reconsider nine reports adopted in the 43rd Parliament. Of interest to Transport Canada, the Committee readopted Report 5, Follow-up Audit on Rail Safety. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the Government Response to the Committee’s report must be tabled no later than June 8, 2022.

In April 2022, the Committee sent correspondence to the department, requesting clarifications on the Government’s response to the Committee’s report on the audit concerning the transportation of dangerous goods. Namely, the Government Response confirmed that regional directors had been informed that all dangerous goods violations were required to be documented. The Committee’s correspondence sought details on the mechanism by which the department verifies that violations are documented and accurate. For further information on this correspondence, please refer to Tab 4 of the appearance binder.

Reason for inviting Transport Canada

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts is inviting Transport Canada, the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada and National Defence Canada to appear in view of its study on Report 2 – Greening Government Strategy of the 2022 Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development.

 

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