Reports Of The Auditor General Of Canada To The Parliament Of Canada

An insightful account of the forces that shape Ottawa's expenditure budget and the relations between politicians and public servants.

This is the final report of L. Denis Desautels as Auditor General of Canada, reflecting on his decade of service to Parliament. It reviews the progress that the Auditor thinks the government has made in critical areas: the management of the debt & budget deficit, the state of the public service, reform in the structure of government, management accountability & reporting to Parliament, and environment & sustainable development. It then reviews the state of program management through examples of five departments: Human Resources Development, Revenue, Fisheries & Oceans, Indian & Northern Affairs, and National Defence. This is followed by discussion of the evolving role of legislative audit and the role of the Office of the Auditor General. The final section offers the Auditor's concluding thoughts in such areas as financial & human resource management, accountability, and environmental commitments.

This reference book is primarily a procedural work which examines the many forms, customs, and practices which have been developed and established for the House of Commons since Confederation in 1867. It provides a distinctive Canadian perspective in describing procedure in the House up to the end of the first session of the 36th Parliament in Sept. 1999. The material is presented with full commentary on the historical circumstances which have shaped the current approach to parliamentary business. Key Speaker's rulings and statements are also documented and the considerable body of practice, interpretation, and precedents unique to the Canadian House of Commons is amply illustrated. Chapters of the book cover the following: parliamentary institutions; parliaments and ministries; privileges and immunities; the House and its Members; parliamentary procedure; the physical & administrative setting; the Speaker & other presiding officers; the parliamentary cycle; sittings of the House; the daily program; oral & written questions; the process of debate; rules of order & decorum; the curtailment of debate; special debates; the legislative process; delegated legislation; financial procedures; committees of the whole House; committees; private Members' business; public petitions; private bills practice; and the parliamentary record. Includes index.