Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. In this case, how we did our sampling was first of all by building. Then we picked a project within that building. Out of the 351 buildings, we looked at 21 buildings, and then picked a project in that building as our sample item.

Public Accounts committee  That's right.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, it is across the country that we drew our sample from. Depending on the building, there can be 100 projects for one building, in some cases. Some of the projects are very small. Other projects are quite large.

Public Accounts committee  This would be the first time that we have been able to fully accept three audits in the same report.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is one of three audits, internal audits, that we were able to rely on. Being able to rely on an internal audit is something that is under the provisions, under the standards, of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. We follow a very rigorous process in being able to make sure not only of the expertise of the individuals...the conduct of the work was done in such a way that we can include that work as part of our own.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. The types of controls that were put in place are whether or not authorities are followed correctly, whether or not the applications are received and completed in a manner that meets all the criteria of the terms and conditions of the programs, and that before any funds are disbursed different requirements and authorities are met as well.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, there was.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. This process was something that was put in place for certain programs--not all programs, but where it made sense, where there was already knowledge of the background of the program. The policy approval process was done in a similar timeframe, as well as the Treasury Board financial approval.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Vote 35 could be seen as something like a financing mechanism to be able to make the funding available to programs earlier than waiting for the supplementary estimates process. The ability to deliver that through a delegated authority sped the process again, in being able to make that available and make the authorities in place at an earlier time.

Public Accounts committee  Out of the 410 we sampled, it ranged from program to program, as far as those that started late were concerned. What we looked at was a comparison of the date that was in the application as to when they were supposed to start versus the date of when they actually started. It ranged anywhere from 5% to 40%, depending on the projects, and those delays could be for a number of different reasons.

Public Accounts committee  Because they're at two different points of time, Mr. Chair. Basically, ours was looking at it early in the process when the projects were just starting, and they started late, as opposed to the point in time the department is speaking of now, which is much more recent.

Public Accounts committee  Basically, as the deputy has already stated, the government operations centre provides consistent information to different departments so they can act on decisions. In an emergency, the same set of facts can be communicated to a number of different people. As we noted in the chapter, it has developed quite well over the last few years.

Public Accounts committee  At the present time, we did not see that there are proper processes to manage overtime. Basically, overtime is encouraged, for a number of reasons, one of the most important having to do with unscheduled leave. There are certain things that feed into unscheduled leave. It could be something as serious as a riot, or it could be something as simple as someone being sick.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. In our previous report in November 2006, I believe it was, we looked at overtime, but we looked at overtime from a different perspective. We were looking to see if overtime and leave were being properly authorized. So we were looking at the process that was in place.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are two aspects to where the savings can be realized. The first one is in the terms of the contracts themselves. Longer-term contracts with an ability to come back to renegotiate the prices achieve some savings, both on the administrative side and also in terms of being able to negotiate a better price with the suppliers.