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Results: 1 - 15 of 447
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you.
Minister, in Winneway, Chief Steeve Mathias has been negotiating with the federal government for several years to have his community recognized as a reserve within the meaning of the Indian Act. Even though no one here likes that act and it is kind of a perfect example of systematic discrimination, it has to be admitted that such recognition could allow the community to get better funding and to get public utilities. In this case, the problem revolves around the Oblate lands.
Can you tell us where the negotiations with this community are, whether about creating a new reserve or signing an agreement that would allow them to take back their territory?
View Gary Vidal Profile
CPC (SK)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for being here today. As you know, we always appreciate your time.
Minister, you know that I'm all about talking about about outcomes and results and some of those kinds of things. We've had this conversation before.
I have a couple of quick questions up front. I will ask you to be brief in your answers so that I can get to the substance of another couple of questions after that.
You department has committed $43.7 million over five years “to co-develop a legislative framework” for first nations policing that recognizes first nations policing as “an essential service”. We recently completed a study on exactly that. When we had officials from four different departments at committee, not a single one of those people could actually define what “policing as an essential service” was. Would it frustrate you that nobody from the department actually had a definition of what we're aiming for?
View Arnold Viersen Profile
CPC (AB)
The boil water advisories continue to be a challenge for the federal government. Your government promised they would be dealt with a year ago. We are seeing more communities come onto boiled water advisories again.
On what day will we be out of the bush on that?
View Arnold Viersen Profile
CPC (AB)
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My question is this.
Mr. Miller, you recently unveiled a map on your department's website that identifies the indigenous communities that do not have access to clean drinking water. However, there is one indigenous community that does not appear on that map that also does not have clean drinking water, and that is Kitcisakik, which is in my riding.
Why is Kitcisakik invisible?
View Kelly Block Profile
CPC (SK)
I call this meeting to order and once again welcome Ms. Vignola, who is joining us in place of her colleague.
Welcome to meeting number 35 of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. The committee is meeting in public today for the first hour, which will be televised, and will move in camera for the second hour to discuss committee business.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(g), the committee is meeting today to receive a briefing from the Auditor General concerning the reports that were tabled in the House on Thursday, May 26, 2021, which were referred to this committee.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the House order of January 25, 2021. Therefore, members may be attending in person in the room or remotely, by using the Zoom application. It would appear that we are all attending virtually today.
On that note, interpretation services are available for this meeting. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of either “Floor”, “English” or “French”. Before speaking, click on the microphone icon to activate your own mike. When you are done speaking, please put your mike on mute to minimize any interference. When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, the use of headsets with a boom microphone is mandatory for everyone participating remotely.
Again, should any technical challenges arise, please do advise the chair. Note that we may need to suspend for a few minutes in that case, as we want to ensure all members are able to fully participate.
I'd now like to welcome our witnesses.
Joining us today from the Office of the Auditor General are Karen Hogan, Auditor General of Canada; Glenn Wheeler, principal; and Jean Goulet, principal.
Welcome.
I will turn the floor over to Ms. Hogan.
View Luc Berthold Profile
CPC (QC)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Good morning and welcome, Ms. Hogan. My thanks to you and to the members of your staff for joining us again.
Ms. Hogan, I will focus on some of the things you said in your presentation. You said that the Public Health Agency of Canada was definitely aware of the issues, as they had previously been raised in audits and reviews over the past decade. The same is true for Indigenous Services Canada.
Don't you think you had a unique opportunity to demonstrate the importance of the reports of the various auditors general over the years, and the negative effects that are generated when agencies, departments and services do not follow those recommendations? It seems to me that you either did not make that point in the report you presented, or that you did so timidly.
View Luc Berthold Profile
CPC (QC)
Exactly, we must invest in things that we don't see, but that we absolutely must have in hand.
What I would have liked to see in your report is the consequences for not following the recommendations. I'm sure you can tell me why this was not included. There were delays and the Public Health Agency of Canada was not sufficiently prepared, despite repeated warnings. But what was the real impact on Canadians? Unfortunately, this is not described very well in the report I have before me.
View Luc Berthold Profile
CPC (QC)
I would really like you to provide us with this information. I think it's very important.
Ms. Hogan, you'll understand that our mandate at the Standing Committee on Public Accounts is to study your reports and recommendations. It is really starting to get my back up, to see that long-standing requests and recommendations are being given so little consideration.
As I mentioned at the outset, when it comes to exceptional situations, public servants are indeed exceptional in their ability to react. However, why is this capacity not as evident when there is no crisis? Always waiting until there is a crisis to react has created problematic situations.
So I would like to get this information on the government's response to requests as quickly as possible.
Ms. Hogan, I don't know if you intend to go any further, but I could have said the same thing about Indigenous Services Canada.
I think it's important to illustrate that your recommendations are helpful. The current situation clearly shows the need for departments to follow some, if not all, of your recommendations.
View Jean Yip Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would like to thank the public servants and the department for their excellent work and their agility in being able to handle some of the quick movements that were needed to fulfill some of the PPE issues. I think it's important to note that.
I'll go back to the real-time audits, and this is for Ms. Hogan. What was the advantage of doing these audits in real time?
View Jean Yip Profile
Lib. (ON)
It's important to be able to react faster and make improvements.
Other than the stockpiling issues, what are some of the long-standing issues that could have been taken care of to be better prepared for the next pandemic?
View Jean Yip Profile
Lib. (ON)
Why do you feel that some of the lessons from SARS and H1N1—the swine flu—maybe hadn't been learned and retained and used as a base in order to prepare for this pandemic?
Results: 1 - 15 of 447 | Page: 1 of 30

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