SIFS Committee Meeting

SUB-COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

SOUS-COMITÉ DES LIGNES DIRECTRICES ET NORMES INTERNATIONALES RELATIVEMENT AUX ÉTATS FINANCIERS DU SECTEUR PUBLIC DU COMITÉ PERMANENT DES COMPTES PUBLICS

EVIDENCE

[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]

Thursday, March 2, 2000

• 1717

[English]

The Chair (Mr. John Williams (St. Albert, Ref.)): This is a meeting of the Subcommittee on International Financial Reporting Guidelines and Standards for the Public Sector of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, orders of the day pursuant to its mandate dated Tuesday, December 7, 1999, consideration of matters relating to the future business of the subcommittee.

We have been dealing with the travel to Washington, which we debated the other day. The clerk has that amended motion available now.

The clerk is distributing the motion.

Mr. Sauvageau.

[Translation]

Mr. Benoît Sauvageau (Repentigny, BQ): Mr. Chairman, I'd like to know the names of the sub-committee members.

[English]

The Chair: The members, Mr. Sauvageau, are Mr. Harb, Mr. Mahoney, Ms. Phinney, Mr. Richardson, me, you, Michelle Dockrill from the NDP, and Ms. Wayne and—

Mr. Benoît Sauvageau: You can stay with us, but you can't vote.

[Translation]

Mr. Hec Clouthier (Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, Lib.): Yes, all the time.

Mr. Benoît Sauvageau: Excellent.

[English]

The Chair: Okay. We want to move this quite fast, Mr. Sauvageau. We'll rule you out of order if we have a problem.

[Translation]

Mr. Benoît Sauvageau: If I may, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make another comment.

I listened carefully as Mr. Harb told us how urgent and important it was for us to travel to Washington at the earliest opportunity and I referred back to the minutes of proceedings of December 7. With your permission, I'd like to read several excerpts from these minutes for the benefit of our Liberal colleagues. I won't waste our time, however, reading them in their entirety.

The minutes of proceedings state the following:

Agreed - That the Standing Committee on Public Accounts establish a Sub-Committee to promote the acceptance of international financial reporting guidelines and standards for the public sector.

That the mandate of the Sub-Committee...

This is the item of interest to us, wouldn't you agree?

• 1720

... include a review of the current efforts by parliamentarians and international organizations, such as...

Although only one example is given, there are several such organizations.

... the World Bank, to promote the acceptance of guidelines and standards now being developed under the auspices of the International Federation of Accountants.

Given the mandate assigned to the sub-committee, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to know exactly what we propose to promote in Washington. The sub-committee hasn't met since December 7 to promote anything. If we were to go to Washington without anything concrete in hand, we wouldn't be living up to our mandate which, as you can see, calls for a review of current efforts being made.

Therefore, before we go off....

[English]

The Chair: Thank you, Mr. Sauvageau.

First of all, we're going to ask the researchers who contacted that organization, because it was a case of either we go to Washington or we bring them here.

What did you find out, Mr. O'Neill?

Mr. Brian O'Neill (Committee Researcher): Mr. Chairman, we were asked to get in touch with the people at the secretariat for the Parliamentary Conference of the Americas. That's an organization whose secretariat is located in Quebec City. We did so at first by checking their website.

I've discovered that at a steering committee meeting of the Parliamentary Conference that was held in Guatemala on May 10, 1999, they did indeed adopt a resolution on the fight against corruption, and as part of that resolution, they urged that those states of the Americas that have not already done so ratify the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption. That is an agreement that was put together by the Organization of American States. I subsequently looked through that agreement, and there's no reference in there to the need for financial reporting standards and guidelines for public sector organizations at the international level.

My colleague, Jean Dupuis, subsequently got in touch with the Parliamentary Conference of the Americas in Quebec City. I'll let him tell you what he discovered from his—

Mr. Steve Mahoney (Mississauga West, Lib.): Could I get some understanding of how long this will take?

The Chair: I'm going to cut this very short.

Mr. Dupuis, quite quickly.

Mr. Jean Dupuis (Committee Researcher): Essentially, I've asked directly if they have dealt with any specific issues relating to the public sector organizations, and they said they had no subcommittee working on that.

The Chair: Mr. Harb.

Mr. Mac Harb (Ottawa Centre, Lib.): Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I think this is the driving force behind my colleague's argument at the last meeting that there is somebody doing what we are doing. In fact, we have been shown now, through the researchers, that is not the case. Nobody is doing what we are doing at this point in time.

With this, I feel very comfortable now, Mr. Chair, to move, seconded by Mr. Richardson:

That the Sub-Committee seek the authority to travel to Washington D.C. from May 7 to 10, 2000 in relation to its study on international financial reporting guidelines and standards for the public sector and that the necessary staff accompany the Sub-Committee.

The Chair: Okay, we have a motion on the floor.

[Translation]

Mr. Benoît Sauvageau: No. I haven't had a chance to speak yet, Mr. Chairman. If we maintain that COPA is the only organization representing parliamentarians, then I say we're forgetting about the International Monetary Fund, the European Parliament, the OECD and other parliamentary associations such as the Organization of American States, the Council of Europe, the Haut Conseil de la Francophonie and the International Trade Centres.

[English]

The Chair: Mr. Sauvageau, the question yesterday was, does this organization duplicate what we intend to do? The answer was no.

Mr. Harb has a motion on the floor.

Mr. Mac Harb: Politely put, Mr. Chair.

The Chair: Yes.

Are you opposed, Mr. Sauvageau?

[Translation]

Mr. Benoît Sauvageau: There are rules which....

[English]

The Chair: Are you opposed?

[Translation]

Mr. Benoît Sauvageau: No.

[English]

The Chair: You're not opposed.

(Motion agreed to)

The Chair: Are we going to adjourn the meeting?

• 1725

[Translation]

Mr. Benoît Sauvageau: On a point of order, Mr. Chairman. I want to ask the clerk if you are complying with this committee's rules of procedure. I don't think you are. If you want to act like Mr. Chrétien and operate as a dictatorship, then by all means go ahead and do so. However, I'm telling you that you have violated our rules of procedure. You can't call the vote on a motion until I have finished speaking to it.

[English]

The Chair: Mr. Sauvageau, you are going to have to bring it up in another committee meeting.

Mr. Benoît Sauvageau: Thank you.

The Chair: The meeting is adjourned.