Honourable senators, the charter that is now being considered by the Senate is part of the overall work of the Audit and Oversight Committee. It’s a governance document that outlines how the committee will carry out its mandate.

It has been a long road that started back in 2014 with the recommendation from the Auditor General to establish independent oversight and to retain an internal auditor. The Subcommittee on the Senate Estimates and Committee Budgets, which I chaired at the time with Senator Jaffer as my deputy chair, was charged with addressing this recommendation.

To preserve the rights of senators to be the masters of their own house, we developed a novel approach that protected our rights but also gave confidence that the best practices were employed in our work. The Auditor General recommended that the committee look at senators’ office expenses only, but we believed that it would be better to have an entity that had oversight over all Senate expenditures — not just the 10% that was recommended, but 100% of the full expenditures of the Senate, now at approximately $120 million.

In order to establish this process and, eventually, this committee, we had to develop novel approaches. Some of these were that the Chair of the Internal Economy Committee and Audit and Oversight Committee cannot be from the same caucus or group. And we have external expertise, unlike other committees that have internal expertise, in some cases by good fortune. On the Fisheries and Oceans Committee we might have fisheries experts, on the Agriculture and Forestry Committee we might have agricultural experts, and obviously we are fortunate to have lawyers and legal scholars on our Justice Committee, but this is not mandated; it’s really by chance. We are fortunate to have the opportunity of nominating and having external members that have the expertise join our Audit and Oversight Committee.

The committee is unique in that we targeted candidates with that specific expertise. I’ll note that, at the time, the original steering committee was made up of Senator Downe, our deputy chair, Senator Dupuis, and me, as chair. We targeted candidates with specific backgrounds and special expertise. Through a rigorous process, we were able to have Robert Plamondon and Hélène Fortin, two highly qualified chartered professional accountants, join our committee. There is an overlap in the initial terms of these individuals so that there is continuity for the committee, and only parliamentarians on the committee can vote, although thus far we have easily and successfully worked based on discussion and consensus.

As well, the audit world is a very rules-based place, as I’m finding out, and that guides our processes as well. In the absence of external members having a vote, any member of the committee can include a dissenting opinion in any report, which is unlike any other committee that we have in the Senate.

In addition, the Audit and Oversight Committee doesn’t have a code like the Ethics and Conflict of Interest Committee has, so for good governance we developed this charter, which is what is before us today. It maps out our processes, our standards and our operating procedure. The rules that we have in the Senate are a general document for all committees. The Senate Administrative Rules apply to the administration of the whole Senate. This charter is such a document for this committee. This is the only instance in the history of the Senate that a committee has developed a charter, one more groundbreaking item designed for continuity of its activities and operations.

Honourable senators, none of us should expect the Canadian public, the media, or the “abolish the Senate” crowd to applaud this significant initiative and accomplishment. Of course, we didn’t do it for that reason. We did it because we needed to get it done, and we did it for the right reasons. Honourable senators, it’s for this reason that our new charter is before us today and will be the guiding document that assists the Audit and Oversight Committee in carrying out its mandate. This is a novel model for a novel institution, and one for which we should all be proud. Thank you.

Honourable senators, the first annual report presented by the Standing Committee on Audit and Oversight outlines the work that the committee has accomplished since it was created by the Senate on October 1, 2020.

This special new standing committee represents a significant step forward in the Senate’s history, because it is responsible for auditing and overseeing all Senate expenditures and the management of public funds allocated to the Senate as an institution and to senators as individuals. By taking responsibility for overseeing its own administration and spending, the Senate and all of the senators are taking control of any reviews or examinations of its practices, so that this process is not left up to external bodies.

Moreover, the decision to add external members to a Senate decision-making structure represents a significant shift. The institution as a whole has decided not only to examine itself, but also to involve people from outside the institution in that examination. This decision brings us in line with many legislative chambers from around the world that have established oversight and monitoring mechanisms in response to growing societal demand for accountability from our institutions.

The process of creating a committee involves a series of tasks, steps, analyses and discussions on the governance of the committee, as well as a series of legal questions that need to be answered. All this kept the committee members very busy, on top of having to make adjustments because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The act of creating a new structure within an institution brings its own share of change and uncertainty. As deputy chair of the committee, I want to acknowledge all the members, both the senators and the external members, for working cooperatively, sharing their expertise and experience, and showing mutual respect over the past 18 months. The Senate members shared their experience with the institution, and the external members shared their technical expertise and professional experience, while making any necessary adjustments to accommodate the unique characteristics of a legislative chamber. We requested and obtained the help of staff from many Senate Administration directorates, which made our task much easier.

By tabling this first annual report in the Senate, along with the internal charter adopted by the committee, we are submitting the first archival documents related to the Senate’s important decision to create an audit and oversight committee. Even more importantly, we are reporting to our fellow senators on the work that has been accomplished to date.

Thank you.

Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

(Motion agreed to and report adopted.)