0:00
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
0:01
Colleagues, it's great to see you.
0:03
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the
0:05
House of Commons. And Mr. Chair, I am
0:08
very happy and very proud to sit on this
0:10
committee. It is the reason why I got
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into politics to ensure that Canadians
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taxpayers dollars are managed
0:20
on behalf of all Canadians and that
0:22
there is we are not spending too much
0:25
and we're not throwing money out the
0:27
door. Unfortunately, the testimony that
0:29
we're hearing today demonstrates the
0:31
exact opposite. There has been a proof
0:34
of laxity in the last 10 years, and
0:37
today Canadians are paying the price. In
0:39
the example that we're studying exactly,
0:41
it's GC Strategies, a a twoperson
0:45
uh company in a basement that wasn't
0:51
and this is why the the auditor general
0:54
is managing is looking at GC strategies
0:58
106 contracts awarded through a variety
1:02
of departments and lacks standards and
1:07
Madame Auditor General, how do you
1:09
explain the situation?
1:12
Answer. As you mentioned, this is not
1:15
the first audit that I have completed
1:18
on the procurement process where I have
1:21
observed that the government ignored the
1:24
rules for on procurement.
1:27
But let's be clear, I am not auditing GC
1:30
strategies. I am auditing the actions or
1:34
lack of actions taken by the government
1:36
and it is a question that I have asked
1:40
myself in the two audits and I recommend
1:46
find the root causes of
1:49
our findings and in my opinion it is
1:55
either public servants don't understand
1:56
the rules or there are too many rules or
1:59
they are sidest stepping them and that
2:00
is I recommend the government needs to
2:03
take a step back and look at the rules
2:06
on procurement to improve the processes,
2:09
the entire process. I understand Miss
2:11
Hogan, it's incredible that we're at
2:14
this estate after 10 10 years. It's just
2:16
applying the rules and we're not talking
2:18
about science here or rocket science as
2:20
we say in English. We're talking about
2:23
basic healthy management of public
2:30
fam Canadian families know how to manage
2:32
their budgets, but the government
2:37
So there's no justification, no ma
2:40
management of no assessment of skills,
2:42
no demonstration of call for tenders, uh
2:47
uh bids that are 80% higher than they
2:49
should be. These are basic things. How
2:51
is it that after 10 years of this
2:53
government they are still not able to
2:55
follow the basic rules to ensure that
2:58
taxpayers money is properly managed?
3:04
Thank you for the the summary.
3:10
I am concerned when uh 94%
3:15
of contracts require time sheets that to
3:19
ensure that the work was properly
3:20
carried out where a public servant did
3:23
not ask for time sheets. We found a
3:29
there were 25 resources
3:32
and the department could only provide us
3:36
with a time sheet for one of them. And
3:38
that is why I said that I have
3:40
difficulty saying that they received
3:43
value for their money. But when we talk
3:45
about public servants, they are
3:46
confident that the surface services were
3:49
provided. So it's a return back to
3:52
basics for the elements needed to
3:56
prudent use of public funds
4:00
and these can't be done to junior
4:02
players. These are high
4:06
senior ministers and unfortunately four
4:09
of them did not do their homework and
4:12
these are still uh playing an important
4:18
There is uh someone who's the the chief
4:23
of staff. We talking about someone the
4:25
minister responsible for international
4:27
trade between Canada and the United
4:28
States. The person who is currently the
4:30
minister of foreign affairs. How is it
4:33
that four ministers who are currently
4:36
being uh rewarded by this government,
4:39
they close their eyes on this laxity uh
4:43
about taxpayers money?
4:50
of where the ministers
4:53
were placed, which departments they were
4:56
in is not an issue that I would verify.
5:01
My mandate looks at the decisions of
5:03
ministers and not the decisions of
5:06
ministers but rather the actions of the
5:08
public service and as I mentioned be
5:10
previously I would not expect a minister
5:12
to be involved in the daily management
5:14
of procurement but I would expect that
5:18
the department give a briefing
5:22
on their their broad processes within
5:27
tied to procurement because this is
5:29
taxpayers money and I would expect a
5:32
better accountability by the public
5:34
service. Thank you very much.
