Moved the adoption of the report.

He said: Honourable senators, I have a few brief words. As the chamber heard on Tuesday when the full report was read out by our table, a considerable amount of work has gone into preparation for this committee — in fact, years — but certainly since the adoption in the fall session.

Colleagues, the essential element of this report is for the new Standing Senate Committee on Audit and Oversight to be able to have intersessional authority much like in the vein of the Standing Committee on Ethics and Conflict of Interest for Senators so that its work can continue. We found, colleagues, that the work of Audit and Oversight, because it will have such an integral aspect of the functioning of the administration of the Senate, not just audits, obviously, but the work of the committee that will look at procedures of the Senate to make sure they are efficient and that taxpayers’ money is being spent responsibly, that we felt if the operation of the committee ceased — and, of course, the senators sitting on the committee would cease being committee members — that the effective operation of this important committee would cease. That’s why I moved the adoption of the report, and I would also call the question.