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Hansard: October 5, 1998 (PAC)

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Hansard: October 5, 1998 (PAC) Standing Committee on Public Accounts Hansard Verbatim Report No. 35 – October 5, 1998 Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan Twenty-third Legislature STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS 1998 June Draude, Chair Kelvington-Wadena Ned Shillington, Vice-Chair Regina Northeast Rod Gantefoer Melfort-Tisdale Jack Goohsen Cypress Hills Walter Jess Redberry Lake Mark Koenker Saskatoon Sutherland Ron Osika Melville Violet Stanger Lloydminster Andrew Thomson Regina South Grant Whitmore Saskatoon Northwest Published under the authority of The Honourable Glenn Hagel, Speaker STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS 663 October 5, 1998 The Chair: — Good morning, everyone. It’s around 9 o’clock meeting and how much work we could be doing in each week. so I think we’ll get started. Everybody looks refreshed after And we’ve decided that perhaps one week in October, a week in their summer break and everybody knows that of course MLAs November, and a week later on in January if necessary, to get (Member of the Legislative Assembly) were on holidays so we through the work that we have ahead of us. should all be ready to go back to work now. And then at that time it was more of a decision on where do we First item of business from the agenda is the election of a start, and the agreement was made between Mr. Shillington and Vice-Chair. This is necessary since Mr. Tchorzewski resigned. myself and the officials who we could . which items would So I’m going to ask for nominations. come forward. The only real discussion was that Workers’ Compensation was one item we’d discussed early in the spring Mr. Jess: — I’ll nominate Mr. Shillington. and thought it should be brought forward fairly quickly, so you’ll see it’s on this week’s agenda. And we’d also talked The Chair: — Okay. We have Mr. Shillington nominated by about SaskPower being discussed quite intensely in CIC Mr. Jess. Is there any further nomination? Motion to close, (Crown Investments Corporation of Saskatchewan), so we please. Mr. Gantefoer. thought maybe that one could be left until later on. Okay. We have the motion that Mr. Shillington be elected to But besides that, it was more or less just a decision of how do preside as Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Public we get through it as best as possible with the officials. So it was Accounts. I apologize, Mr. Osika. I guess the decision was made between the two of us. I think Mr. Osika did get . I think you were sent a draft. Mr. Osika: — It’s okay. Mr. Osika: — Just a draft. The Chair: — I’ll ask someone to move the motion. Mr. Whitmore. Mr. Koenker: — I’d like to refer particularly to your letter of August 31 indicating that the Year 2000 bug will be placed on Mr. Whitmore: — I thought you were asking for a new the agenda. Was that item discussed with the Vice-Chair and motion. Sorry. other members of the committee? The Chair: — This is a new motion because we have Mr. Shillington: — Can I speak to this? There may have been nominations; we asked for someone to nominate so . okay. some honest confusion here. We did meet in August and I think We had Mr. Whitmore. this is a good opportunity to establish a procedure. We did meet in August, we did discuss the general content of what we were And we have . the second item on our agenda is the adoption to be doing, and perhaps I was confused about it. I was Chair of the agenda. And before we go on, I imagine everyone has here during the ’80s and we used to establish the agenda at the noted the amount of work the auditor has put into providing us first meeting. That’s sort of what I thought we’re going to do. with a binder with everything nicely organized. He probably was tired of seeing us flip through a hundred different books. Then I was a little surprised when, during the month of But we do appreciate this work. September, I got a suggested agenda from the Clerk which I hadn’t seen before. I think it would be a better procedure if you This motion for the Vice-Chair has been signed by Mr. and I were to . if the Chair and the Vice-Chair were to agree Whitmore. Is this carried? Everyone in favour of Mr. upon the agenda before it goes out. I don’t think that quite Shillington being Vice-Chair? Carried. happened. We did have a meeting in August, but I don’t recall having agreed to the agenda which I saw from . which came And now the agenda. We need a motion to adopt this agenda for out from the Clerk. the week. I understand it’s a working agenda, so if there are a few changes along the way we can do that with everyone in And I think it would be a better procedure henceforth if the agreeance, but right now it gives us a guideline to work with. Chair and the Vice-Chair could meet, agree upon the detail of So will someone adopt this agenda? Make a motion to adopt? the agenda, and then have it go out. I’m not sure that’s quite Mr. Gantefoer. All in favour? what happened. As I say, it may have been some honest confusion, but I don’t recall having seen the item I got from the Mr. Koenker: — Is there discussion? Clerk before it came out. The Chair: — If you have . yes. Then I was in kind of a difficult position in that I couldn’t contact you and so I did contact your colleague and we worked Mr. Koenker: — Yes, Madam Chair, I’d like to know what the out an agenda. But I think from here on in, perhaps we should process is for establishing an agenda of the committee. establish the procedure of the agenda being agreed to by the Chair and the Vice-Chair before it goes out. I don’t think that The Chair: — Okay. We met — Mr. Shillington and myself quite happened this time. It may have been honest confusion, and the Provincial Auditor and Mr. Putz met during the summer but I don’t think it happened. and we went over some of the items that had to be discussed, realizing that it could take up to three weeks to do this work. So The Chair: — I have a comment, but do you have any further we talked about the time frames when we could possibly be things, Mr. Koenker? 664 Public Accounts Committee October 5, 1998 Mr. Koenker: — No, I just wanted clarity to how the agenda is how it was put together. prepared. I felt that there was some confusion. Mr. Osika: — Okay, thank you. The Chair: — If there was confusion, I do apologize. But we did go over a type of a draft at the meeting in my office in Mr. Thomson: — We don’t want this place operating like a August. We had a list of organizations and committees we had kangaroo court. to go through, and recommendations, and we had something that said “for draft purposes.” It was forwarded to us already in The Chair: — Thank you very much. The next meeting then June by the auditor and we did go through those and say, is we will . Before the next meeting we’ll be going over it. there anything that you want to be brought forward and it was something that we had to work out with the officials. Mr. Shillington: — It would be before the next session in November. And then also in the June meeting we had discussed the importance of bringing officials in for the Year 2000 so we also The Chair: — That’s correct. We have a motion before us. discussed that that would be the first thing on the agenda. So I Moved by Mr. Gantefoer that the draft agenda of the Standing do believe that we had at least talked about this draft; you had Committee on Public Accounts for our meetings to be held seen that because it was faxed out and it did say draft purposes. Monday, October 05, 1998 to Friday, October 9, ’98 be But if there is a problem then we will definitely change it back adopted. Is everyone in favour of this motion? Carried. again. Again I would like to thank the auditor for preparing the binder Mr. Shillington: — Perhaps for November we could . and it for us to keep us organized and on track. The first item on the may have been . the problem may have been caused by the agenda is the Chair’s request for information to government fact that I couldn’t get a hold of you then in September when agencies. You were all sent a copy of the letter to the four the agenda had come out. Perhaps before November we could different departments where we’ve asked for input into how meet and we’ll sign off on the thing. they were dealing with the Year 2000 and the computer systems and the standing of each department. So are their officials here? The Chair: — Okay then are you saying you would like just you and the vice-chair and the chairman to again do this same Okay, we will start with the auditor. The auditor has some type of thing or do you want to just bring the whole lot in to the background information. For those of you fortunate enough to meeting to make it very important or impossible.
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