QUESTION PERIOD — Finance

Senator Gold, I rise for the third time — and hopefully the last time — to ask about the Public Accounts of Canada.

After the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s appearance at the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance on November 27, we learned that the final version of the public accounts had not been provided to the Auditor General of Canada and that the final version would be provided shortly.

Since the public accounts are normally signed in September and tabled by the end of October, it raises concerns that there wasn’t even a final version provided for signing by the end of November. This will already be the latest that they have been tabled in a non-election year in the last 30 years.

Considering it has been indicated that the Receiver General for Canada usually requires 30 business days to prepare the documents for tabling after they have been signed, I’m not confident we’ll be receiving them by December 31.

Senator Gold, my question remains: Have the public accounts been signed, and can you tell us what day they will be tabled?

Senator Gold, given that we only have a few sitting days left, it sounds to me that there is a real possibility we will have to wait until February as part of being within 15 sitting days after December 31. What type of accounting errors was the government attempting to reconcile — and for which departments — that is resulting in such a late tabling of the public accounts?