CANADIAN COUNCIL OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEES
| 1. | The Public Accounts Committee should operate in a non-partisan fashion if it is to effectively conduct a searching and rigorous scrutiny of government expenditures. (for more details, see Chapter 2, section 2.3) |
| IMPLEMENTED | SOMETIMES IMPLEMENTED |
NOT YET IMPLEMENTED |
| Alberta | House of Commons | Manitoba |
| British Columbia | Quebec | Nova Scotia |
| Ontario | Saskatchewan | |
| Newfoundland | Yukon | |
| Prince Edward Island | ||
| Northwest Territories |
Explanatory Notes
| Alberta | -- | Procedurally operates in a non-partisan fashion. |
| British Columbia | -- | Generally recognized. |
| New Brunswick | -- | PAC does not have a formal written statement that describes the Committee's role and responsibilities. |
| Quebec | -- | Several committees occasionally proceed to a non-partisan exam and rely on public expenditure at the time of the verification of financial commitments of the ministers. |
| Saskatchewan | -- | Depending on the issue before the Committee. |
| Yukon | -- | Committee agrees; usually complies. |
| 2. | The role of the Public Accounts Committee is to hold the government accountable for its spending of taxpayers' money and its stewardship over public assets. (2.4) |
| IMPLEMENTED | SOMETIMES IMPLEMENTED |
NOT YET IMPLEMENTED | |
| Alberta | Manitoba | British Columbia | Nova Scotia |
| House of Commons | Prince Edward Island | Quebec | |
| Ontario | |||
| Newfoundland | |||
| Saskatchewan | |||
| Yukon | |||
| Northwest Territories | |||
Explanatory Notes
| British Columbia | -- | Generally recognized. | |
| Prince Edward Island | -- | Usually deal only with matters in Auditor General's report. |
| 3. | Public Accounts Committees should have a clear formal mandate to scrutinize the activities and operations of all Crown agencies and corporations in which taxpayers' funds have been invested, and to scrutinize the value for money obtained through privatization of any such bodies. (2.4) |
| IMPLEMENTED | SOMETIMES IMPLEMENTED |
NOT YET IMPLEMENTED |
| British Columbia | Northwest Territories | Alberta |
| House of Commons | Ontario | Manitoba |
| Saskatchewan | Quebec | Nova Scotia |
| Newfoundland | Prince Edward Island | |
| Yukon |
Explanatory Notes
| British Columbia | -- | Based upon interpretation of terms of reference. | |
| New Brunswick | -- | PAC does not have a formal written statement that describes the Committee's role and responsibilities. | |
| Ontario | -- | Value-for-money not in Audit Act yet. | |
| Quebec | -- | The committees could actually investigate the orientations, activities, and management of public functions known in their specialized field. By means of an initiative mandate, a committee could investigate public groups that have been privatized. | |
| Yukon | -- | But agrees with reviewing the process of privatization. |
| 4. | The role of Public Accounts Committees in ensuring accountability of transfer payments needs to be defined and formally established. (2.4) |
| IMPLEMENTED | SOMETIMES IMPLEMENTED |
NOT YET IMPLEMENTED |
| Newfoundland | British Columbia | Alberta |
| Yukon | House of Commons | Manitoba |
| Northwest Territories | Nova Scotia | |
| Quebec | Ontario | |
| Prince Edward Island | ||
| Saskatchewan |
Explanatory Notes
| Quebec | -- | All transferred spending in excess of $25,000 issued by the ministers are subject to monthly studies parliamentary committees at the time of the verification process of financial commitments. |
| Saskatchewan | -- | Kelly/Hansen recommendations debated and adopted; no further definition of role beyond this. |
| 5. | Tax expenditures are a growing area of government activity, and one which receives minimal scrutiny from either legislature or government relative to direct expenditures. Public Accounts Committees can make a major contribution in ensuing probity and value for money in tax expenditures. The role of PACs in this area needs to be defined and formalized. (2.4) |
| IMPLEMENTED | SOMETIMES IMPLEMENTED |
NOT YET IMPLEMENTED |
| Newfoundland | British Columbia | Alberta |
| Northwest Territories | House of Commons | Manitoba |
| Prince Edward Island | Nova Scotia | |
| Quebec | Ontario | |
| Saskatchewan | ||
| Yukon |
Explanatory Notes
| Prince Edward Island | -- | Evaluate expenditures but not defined and formulated. |
| Quebec | -- | The Budget and Administration Committee (CBA) is obligated to examine quarterly the political budget of the government and the development of public finances, those which include the fiscal expenses. Therefore, the Committee does not make a detailed examination. |
| 6. | The Public Accounts Committee should not concern itself with the policies of government or with they are good or bad. The Committee should be concerned with ensuring that the policies and government are implemented in an effective, efficient and economical manner, and that the taxpayer is value for monies spent. (2.5) |
| IMPLEMENTED | SOMETIMES IMPLEMENTED |
NOT YET IMPLEMENTED |
| Alberta | Nova Scotia | Manitoba |
| British Columbia | Prince Edward Island | Quebec |
| House of Commons | Saskatchewan | |
| Newfoundland | ||
| Ontario | ||
| Yukon | ||
| Northwest Territories |
Explanatory Notes
| Alberta | -- | PAC passed a motion at organizational meeting to limit the scope of questions to General's Report and Public Accounts 1988-89. Chairman endeavours to limit me questions away from policy. |
| British Columbia | -- | Generally recognized. |
| Saskatchewan | -- | PAC considers public accounts and Provincial Auditors Report which currently does not include value for money. |
| 7. | Public Accounts Committees should hold public servants accountable for their performance of the administrative duties and implementation activities which have been delegated to them. (2.6) |
| IMPLEMENTED | SOMETIMES IMPLEMENTED |
NOT YET IMPLEMENTED |
| British Columbia | Alberta | Manitoba |
| House of Commons | Prince Edward Island | Quebec |
| Nova Scotia | ||
| Newfoundland | ||
| Ontario | ||
| Saskatchewan | ||
| Yukon | ||
| Northwest Territories |
Explanatory Notes
| Alberta | -- | At this time, PAC meets only with Ministers of government departments, which Ministers appear with Deputy Ministers and other key personnel for the purpose of answering questions. |
| British Columbia | -- | Generally recognized. |
| Quebec | -- | This only applies to the plan of public groups, not to the ministers. |
| 8. | Initiatives to reform financial management and control structures and processes in government should receive careful scrutiny to ensure that due regard is given to maintaining legislative accountability and enhancing it where possible. (2.6) |
| IMPLEMENTED | SOMETIMES IMPLEMENTED |
NOT YET IMPLEMENTED |
| British Columbia | Quebec | Alberta |
| House of Commons | Manitoba | |
| Newfoundland | ||
| Nova Scotia | ||
| Ontario | ||
| Prince Edward Island | ||
| Saskatchewan | ||
| Yukon | ||
| Northwest Territories |
Explanatory Notes
| British Columbia | -- | Generally recognized. |
| New Brunswick | -- | No minimum or maximum number of members prescribed for the PAC. |
| Quebec | -- | The CBA frequently receives the mandate to review pertinent legislation. The eight committees occasionally develop suggestions to improve the verification of financial commitments by the committees. |
| 9. | The PAC and the Auditor must work together to achieve maximum accountability to the Legislature. (2.7) |
| IMPLEMENTED | SOMETIMES IMPLEMENTED |
NOT YET IMPLEMENTED |
| House of Commons | Alberta | |
| Ontario | British Columbia | |
| Newfoundland | Manitoba | |
| Prince Edward Island | Nova Scotia | |
| Saskatchewan | Quebec | |
| Yukon | ||
| Northwest Territories |
Explanatory Notes
| British Columbia | -- | Generally recognized. |
| 10. | It is important that the Committee establish and maintain a constructive working relationship with government. The goals of responsible, efficient, and effecitve administration are not only common to all legislators, but are shared by governments as well. If a constructive working relationship is maintained, government will be more likely to take action on the Committee's recommendations, which increases the Committee's effectiveness. (2.8) |
| IMPLEMENTED | SOMETIMES IMPLEMENTED |
NOT YET IMPLEMENTED |
| British Columbia | Ontario | Alberta |
| House of Commons | Saskatchewan | Manitoba |
| Newfoundland | Nova Scotia | |
| Northwest Territories | Quebec | |
| Prince Edward Island | ||
| Yukon |
Explanatory Notes
| Alberta | -- | We do have a report, therefore no recommendations. |
| British Columbia | -- | Generally recognized. |
| New Brunswick | -- | There is no steering committee of the PAC. |
| Saskatchewan | -- | Depending on the issue before the Committee. |
Contents . . . Next (11-20)
[ Return to: Canadian Council of Public Accounts Committees Home Page ]
Copyright © 1996: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada