PACP Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Public Accounts |
HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA K1A 0A6 |
Comité permanent des comptes publics |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
HOUSE COMMITTEE BREAKS NEW GROUND IN ACCOUNTABILITY
Ottawa, February 25, 2008 -
Evasive government responses to Public Accounts Committee recommendations will no longer be accepted, according to a new approach outlined in a Committee report tabled today by Chair the Hon. Shawn Murphy, M.P.
Responses that are vague or incomplete undermine the Committee’s ability to hold the government accountable, because they do not advise Parliament whether recommendations made in Committee reports have been accepted, or what the government is going to do.
“This report, and the new process we have established, are all about the power of persistence,” said Mr. Murphy, who indicated that a lengthy effort, on the Committee`s behalf, had been needed to get the expanded staff resources required for the study, and the new process. “Sometimes, quiet persistence gets results in Ottawa,” he said. “Today, the Committee is announcing that it will be as persistent as it needs to be, in dealing with the government.”
The report, Strengthening Accountability – A New Approach to Following Up on Committee Recommendations, documents significant shortcomings in government responses to Committee recommendations over a four-year period, from 2001 to 2005. According to a study of 110 recommendations made by the Committee, about 30% of government responses were so vague that they seemed to commit the government to doing nothing new. A slightly higher proportion – 32.7% -- did not lead to the increased reporting of information to the public that had been called for.
The follow-up process announced in the report involves the systematic review of all government responses, to determine whether they are clear and complete. Where clarification or more information is needed, the Committee will request it by letter or, if necessary, by calling government officials to meetings. As well, public information released by the government, as well as reports of the Auditor General, will be monitored to make sure that the government is actually doing what it has promised to do.
The report indicates that the first letters seeking clarification of some government responses were sent out last summer, and that early indications are that the information provided by the government will be useful to the Committee, and Parliament. However, only time will tell whether more serious actions by the Committee will be needed.
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