The committee met at 8:31 a.m.

[S. Bond in the chair.]

S. Bond (Chair): Good morning. I’d like to call this meeting of the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts to order. I want to thank my colleagues for being here this morning. I don’t anticipate a lengthy meeting today.

We do have one specific item of business, and then what we will do in the next…. Once we finish the session, we’ll look to canvass you for a date or two to work our way through the additional reports that have been presented in the Legislature. Our workplan is certainly still full, but today I expect a relatively short meeting.

Consideration of Draft Report

REPORT ON
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES 2018-19

S. Bond (Chair): Today the item of business we want to consider is the draft committee report. It is titled the Summary of Activities of our committee for 2018-2019.

Perhaps I’ll just start with a couple of comments. A sense of gratitude to the staff that worked so hard to capture the work that we do here at Public Accounts. I think the goal of the report is to be as transparent and as thorough as possible about the work that’s done here. I think that’s a critically important thing for all of us.

What I’d like to do is just open the floor up for any questions or concerns or edits that may be suggested. If you have specific edits, you can certainly send them to the Deputy Chair, Mitzi, or myself, and we can work through the Clerk’s office to have those included.

With that, I’ll just open up the floor to see if anyone has any comments. I don’t know if Mitzi would like to begin with some general remarks as well.

M. Dean (Deputy Chair): Thank you very much, Chair.

Yes. I’d just like to echo the appreciation for the staff. I think it was a really well-written report, very balanced, and really provides us with the opportunity of being transparent. Of course, to thank all the members as well. Without the work and the efforts of all the members and the staff who come and speak to us at our meetings, as well, we wouldn’t have got so much work done.

Shirley, thanks for your leadership. You’ve really stepped up and encouraged us to make sure that we keep on top of the work. It shows a real respect, I think, for the work of this committee and the work across government as well. So thank you for that.

S. Bond (Chair): Thank you, Mitzi. I appreciate that.

Certainly, this committee does do its homework, and that is so important when we’re dealing with the number and the importance of the reports we deal with.

Members, any comments on the draft report as presented to you this morning?

Of course, Kate would like to add some clarity here.

K. Ryan-Lloyd (Acting Clerk of the Legislative Assem­bly): Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, Members.

Just on one aspect with respect to your deliberations on the draft report, members may be aware that it’s common practice for parliamentary committees to undertake consideration of draft reports on an in-camera basis. But in this instance, your committee has had, for many years, the practice of having these types of discussions on the public record.

[8:35 a.m.]

One distinction would be, of course, if you had specific recommendations on a policy matter or a statutory change, for example, that you were deliberating in camera over, it would be a different type of circumstance. But as all of your work has been conducted in the public domain, it’s quite appropriate to continue this discussion, if members agree, on the public record. I just wanted to clarify that. Thank you.

S. Bond (Chair): I think that everyone around the table would agree that we’re quite comfortable with this being on the public record. Thank you, Kate, for that clarification.

Any questions or comments about the report?

R. Sultan: I just wanted to echo the Deputy Chair and Chair’s comments in terms of the — what I react to — breathtaking breadth of the responsibilities of this committee and the amount of very hard-nosed, detailed, analytical work by the Auditor General and her team that goes into preparing materials underpinning this committee’s activities. I think it’s unappreciated by the public at large. It reminds me that we should redouble our efforts to crow a little bit more about our accomplishments and our stewardship over the public’s money and the efficiency with which it’s spent.

It’s a proud record but a rather unknown record. I hope in the year or two ahead we can chip away at that situation.

S. Bond (Chair): Thank you, Ralph. I think we would all agree with that. I think, at times, even our colleagues…. We hurry off to a meeting, and everyone is busy.

One of the important parts of the report is that when we table it, when Mitzi and I do that, should we have your permission to do that, we will have a chance for the record to be laid very clearly in the Legislature, and I think that’s an important thing. So thank you, Ralph.

Anyone else? All right.

I think that speaks volumes about the incredibly good work that was done. Again, we express to you, Kate, and your team…. We’re very, very thankful all the time for the way that you help us manage through these issues.

Committee Report to the House

REPORT ON
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES 2018-19

S. Bond (Chair): The first motion, then. If someone is prepared to move it, that would be fantastic.

M. Dean (Deputy Chair): I move:

[That the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts adopt the report entitled Summary of Activities 2018/19 as amended today and further, that the Committee authorize the Chair and Deputy Chair to work with committee staff to finalize any minor editorial changes to complete the supporting text.]

Motion approved.

S. Bond (Chair): That’s carried unanimously. Thank you for that.

The second motion would give approval for the Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts to present a copy of the report entitled Summary of Activities 2018-19 to the Legislative Assembly at the earliest available opportunity.

M. Dean (Deputy Chair): So moved:

[That the Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts present the report entitled Summary of Activities 2018/19 to the Legislative Assembly at the earliest available opportunity.]

S. Bond (Chair): Moved by the Deputy Chair and seconded by John Yap.

Any comments?

Motion approved.

S. Bond (Chair): Thank you for that.

What will happen is we’ll finalize the actual text and the document. I think it is our intent to table it before the end of session, which keeps everything nice and tidy, and then we’ll move on to our next set of reports.

What we would do is, as is typically done…. I would table the report and then invite Mitzi to make comments as well, as Deputy Chair.

Any other items of business?

Kate has one.

Other Business

K. Ryan-Lloyd (Acting Clerk): Yes, thank you again. On behalf of Carol Bellringer, our Auditor General, she has asked me to circle back with you all. She has sent to each of you an annual survey, as members of the Public Accounts Committee, seeking feedback on the work of her office and her engagement with your committee.

I’m going to take the opportunity later today to resend you the link to that. If you haven’t had a chance yet to complete her survey, she’d very much value your feedback and input. Thank you.

S. Bond (Chair): I think we’re being reminded of a to-do list item that I admit some of us may not have had time to do yet. Thank you for that reminder, Kate.

With that, I want to, again, thank each one of you for your hard work. I hope, as you read the report, you could see your comments and concerns and ideas reflected there. I think we’ve made exceptionally good progress on some areas. And we have more work to do, as Ralph points out, to continue to tell the story of why Public Accounts actually is a very, very significant and important committee.

With that, I’d entertain a motion to adjourn.

Interjection.

S. Bond (Chair): Pardon?

R. Wall: Did you want to canvass people in June, or do you want to do that separately?

K. Ryan-Lloyd (Acting Clerk): We could find meeting dates in June.

S. Bond (Chair): Yes.

K. Ryan-Lloyd (Acting Clerk): We do have a number of reports that are pending and others that the Auditor is expected to release in the coming weeks. So we’ll work with the Chair, the Deputy Chair and the subcommittee members to find….

S. Bond (Chair): Yes. That’s a very good point. Thank you, Ron.

Just a reminder that we will canvass. We certainly won’t be taking a lot of months off from Public Accounts. We’ll probably have a series of meetings, when it’s most convenient for members, to continue our workplan.

With that, John, did you make the motion to adjourn?

J. Yap: So moved.

Motion approved.

The committee adjourned at 8:40 a.m.