PACP Committee Meeting

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts met at 11:06 a.m. this day, in Room 237-C, Centre Block, the Chair, the Hon. Joseph Volpe, presiding.

The Chair presented the Twelfth Report from the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure which read as follows:

Your Subcommittee met on Wednesday, November 3, 2010, to consider the business of the Committee and agreed to make the following recommendations:

1. That the following draft reports be considered by the Committee at its meeting scheduled for Thursday, November 4, 2010:

• Chapter 4, “Electronic Health Records,” of the Fall 2009 Report of the Auditor General of Canada and “Electronic Health Records in Canada - An Overview of Federal and Provincial Audit Reports,” of the Spring 2010 Report of the Auditor General of Canada;

• International Peer Review of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada;

2. That consideration of the draft report on Chapter 3, “Rehabilitating the Parliament Buildings,” of the Spring 2010 Report of the Auditor General of Canada, be postponed pending receipt of further information;

3. That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(g), the Committee undertake studies of the following parts of the Fall 2010 Report of the Auditor General of Canada, referred to the Committee on October 26, 2010:

• Chapter 1, Canada’s Economic Action Plan

• Chapter 3, Service Delivery

• Chapter 4, Managing Conflict of Interest;

4. That, in relation to the motion adopted by the Committee on Thursday, October 28, 2010, the Committee begin its study of Chapter 6, “Acquisition of Military Helicopters,” of the Fall 2010 Report of the Auditor General of Canada at its meeting scheduled for Tuesday, December 7, 2010;

5. That, when possible, the Committee devote one of its two weekly meetings to the consideration of draft reports;

6. That the Chair be authorized to write to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to request a more complete response to the letter sent by the Chair on May 13, 2010, pursuant to the motion adopted by the Committee on Thursday, April 15, 2010;

7. That the motion deemed adopted by the Committee on Thursday, March 25, 2010, which reads as follows:

“That all departments and agencies of the federal government that have been subject to a performance audit by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada provide a detailed action plan to address the audit recommendations which have been agreed to - including specific actions, timelines for their completion and responsible individuals - to the Public Accounts Committee and the Office of the Auditor General of Canada within six months of the audit being tabled in the House of Commons; and that departments and agencies that are invited to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to discuss the findings of an audit should, when feasible, provide an action plan to the Committee prior to the hearing; and

That departmental action plans and progress reports received by the Committee be published on the Committee’s website”;

be amended to read as follows:

“That all departments and agencies of the federal government that have been subject to a performance audit by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada provide a detailed action plan to address the audit recommendations which have been agreed to - including specific actions, timelines for their completion and responsible individuals - to the Public Accounts Committee and the Office of the Auditor General of Canada within three months of the audit being tabled in the House of Commons; and that departments and agencies that are invited to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to discuss the findings of an audit should, when feasible, provide an action plan to the Committee prior to the hearing; and

That departmental action plans and progress reports received by the Committee be published on the Committee’s website”.

On motion of Meili Faille, it was agreed, — That the report of the Subcommittee be concurred in.

At 11:16 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 11:17 a.m., the sitting resumed in camera.

The Committee commenced consideration of a draft report.

It was agreed, — That the draft report, as amended, be adopted.

It was agreed, — That the report be entitled: “Chapter 4, “Electronic Health Records,” of the Fall 2009 Report of the Auditor General of Canada and “Electronic Health Records in Canada - An Overview of Federal and Provincial Audit Reports,” of the Spring 2010 Report of the Auditor General of Canada.”

It was agreed, — That the Chair, Clerk and Analyst be authorized to make such grammatical and editorial changes as may be necessary without changing the substance of the report.

It was agreed, — That the Chair present the report to the House.

It was agreed, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the Committee request that the Government table a comprehensive response to the report.

It was agreed, — That the Clerk of the Committee prepare and issue a press release following the presentation of the report in the House.

The Committee commenced consideration of a draft report.

It was agreed, — That the draft report, as amended, be adopted.

It was agreed, — That the report be entitled: “International Peer Review of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada”.

It was agreed, — That the Chair, Clerk and Analyst be authorized to make such grammatical and editorial changes as may be necessary without changing the substance of the report. That the Chair present the report to the House.

It was agreed, — That the Clerk of the Committee prepare and issue a press release following the presentation of the report in the House.

It was agreed, — That, following the presentation to the House of the Committee’s report entitled “Chapter 4, “Electronic Health Records,” of the Fall 2009 Report of the Auditor General of Canada and “Electronic Health Records in Canada - An Overview of Federal and Provincial Audit Reports,” of the Spring 2010 Report of the Auditor General of Canada,” the Chair be authorized to write to the Department of Health to follow up on any issues encountered with respect to privacy and confidentiality regarding records.

At 12:56 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.