Public Accounts committee  In terms of the question of appointments processes, you have an opportunity. A number of recommendations have been made by us in relation to gaps that exist in the appointments process. You'll have a series of those that I think you can follow up on in terms of the recommendations and what actions have been taken in relation to those.

Public Accounts committee  I don't have anything to comment on in relation to that.

Public Accounts committee  When you asked what could have been done, my first reaction is that we audit at a point in time and look at the status of systems and processes to determine whether they're in place. We don't necessarily go through a hindsight exercise of what could have been or would have been to produce a different result.

Public Accounts committee  Let me respond. Quite simply, I think they do cover slightly different periods of time. The purpose of the corporation's chart is to reflect the current trend in where they are going and the rising profitability. We looked at the chart that we had. It starts when we did the audit and goes back.

Public Accounts committee  The principal message we were trying to accomplish is what you indicated. One of the drivers of the profitability that the corporation experiences is in relation to the exchange rate. All we wanted to raise was the fact that exchange rates go through cycles, and if the exchange rates become unfavourable to the corporation, it will make it more difficult to generate profitability if the responses are not done to the types of operational issues we identified.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, thank you for this opportunity to present the results of our special examination of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. As you mentioned, joining me at the table is Heather McManaman, the principal who was responsible for the audit. A special examination of a crown corporation is a type of performance audit.

Public Accounts committee  No. I'd appreciate, Mr. Chair, if you would give me just a few minutes at the end to respond to a few observations.

Public Accounts committee  Right now? Okay, with that in mind, I'd just like to give you a few perspectives. There has been a long conversation since we started a little bit. First, I'd like to give the committee some assurance early in the conversation about the use of the word “dysfunctional”. We do an audit of a number of crown corporations and special exams and see all types of organizations and the state of affairs.

Public Accounts committee  First off, this is what we refer to as a representational board. There are a few crowns that have a similar type of circumstance. We are concerned, as outlined in the report, that the very basis of a representational board can create some challenges in terms of the perception of the conflicts of interests.

Public Accounts committee  I think that would be a question better directed to the corporation. We look for the evidence to indicate whether the systems and practices are in place but don't necessarily try to find, in all cases, the reason. I think that would be a question better directed to management.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, if I may begin, we do our work and look at a period of time to find the evidence to support the criteria established to meet the objectives of the audit. When we look at each particular period, we look at and assess the conditions at that point in time. I think the first response to your question is, in 2007, looking at the window that we looked at, we found evidence supporting all the criteria.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for this opportunity to present the results of our special examination of the Atlantic Pilotage Authority. Joining me at the table is Heather McManaman, the principal responsible for the audit. A special examination of a crown corporation is a type of performance audit.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think you are asking if there were any seriously egregious types of situations, for which you used examples from other jurisdictions. As the Auditor General indicated, we didn't find any of those. If we had, we would have reported them. If documentation is sufficient to support a claim when we performed the work, we would be satisfied generally that it constitutes a valid expense, subject to it being reasonable, of course.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I will answer briefly. In my observations in the 2012 report, when I talked about compliance, this referred to examining documents, including receipts tabled by parliamentarians for a certain activity, in order to ensure that rules were being respected. That is exactly the matter we examined.