Public Accounts

The Public Accounts Committee met to examine three audits tabled by the Auditor General of Canada, Karen Hogan, covering the federal pay system modernization, international student program reforms, and RCMP recruitment. The committee also began clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-230, which aims to create a public registry of waived or written-off debts owed to the Crown, with officials from the Treasury Board Secretariat, Canada Revenue Agency, and Department of Finance present to answer questions.

Karen Hogan testified that the pay system modernization project, while in early stages, faces risks from limited progress in simplifying pay rules, leading to an estimated $4 million annual cost for customizing the Dayforce system. She noted that over 233,000 pay transactions remain outstanding, and a shortened three-year timetable reduces time to clear the backlog, warning that transferring errors into the new system could perpetuate inaccuracies. On the international student program, Hogan stated that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada issued far fewer permits than forecast and failed to investigate most of over 153,000 potential non-compliance cases, while also not pursuing 800 fraud cases discovered after permits were approved. Regarding RCMP recruitment, Hogan concluded the force failed to meet its needs, with a shortage of at least 3,400 officers, widespread vacancies in contract and Indigenous policing, and application processing delays averaging 330 days against a 224-day target.

Tomasz Popiel, from the Treasury Board Secretariat, addressed questions on the proposed registry under Bill C-230, explaining that the government would gather information from departments to create a searchable database and that the President of the Treasury Board would have discretion to exclude information deemed inappropriate for public access due to confidentiality, personal, or sensitive reasons. He noted that the exception is targeted and not arbitrary, with the default being disclosure, and that the decision-maker remains subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

Isabelle Brault, from the Canada Revenue Agency, provided limited comments on the registry, noting that parliamentary debates and committee discussions can help determine legislative intent and scope, and that greater clarity in the text could be preferable.

During clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-230, the committee debated amendments to raise the disclosure threshold from $1 million to $5 million, with a subamendment to set it at $2 million, which was agreed to. Further amendments added required information fields, such as the amount and fiscal year of the waiver, and allowed the President of the Treasury Board to exclude information for reasons of confidentiality, personal, or sensitive data, with the registry to be established within 18 months and updated within 90 days after Public Accounts are tabled. Members discussed whether redactions should be identifiable and justified, with some suggesting the term "redact" instead of "exclude" to ensure entries remain visible, but no formal subamendment was moved before the meeting adjourned, with the clause-by-clause to continue at the next meeting.