Great. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. I don't think I'll take my full six minutes.

I do want to start by talking a little bit about the trip I had to Regina, Saskatchewan, with some of my colleagues to the CCPAC conference. That was September 7 to 9 in lovely Regina, Saskatchewan. I'd not been there before, so it was really nice to see the city. Hosted by the president, Saskatchewan MLA Trent Wotherspoon, we had a really great welcome and a good introduction to the city. I was joined by my colleagues Ms. Kusie and Mr. Stevenson; our analyst, Mr. Theckedath; our clerk, Ms. Jeanneault; and the Auditor General, of course, and her staff. We had a great time.

I was especially impressed by the provincial PACs that updated us on their work and by the panels that spoke about the best practices that made their committees highly functional. I learned more about this committee's function as well—its ideal function—and its purpose. Having been through just one committee meeting so far, it's been a little bit of baptism by fire, so it was nice to have this orientation with other PACs from across the country.

I did get a sense of some general themes. I understand that this committee and all PACs, ours in particular, have been asked by Parliament to provide financial oversight of the government through the Auditor General's reports and the government's financial statements, which is obvious, and that we're not meant to critique policy. This might be a nuance that's lost on some folks, but I've come to understand it quite critically. We're tasked with determining whether the implementation of policies has been properly executed. We're to determine the effectiveness of public programs.

To sum it up in a phrase that Ms. Kusie used, we have to find value for money and bang for our buck—bang for the taxpayer buck.

Another recurring theme of the sessions was the inherent and necessary non-partisan nature of public accounts committees. I know it's easier said than done sometimes, but this was really impressed upon us by one panel in particular. It was led by a former chair of this committee, former MP Kevin Sorenson. He discussed his time chairing this committee. I got to chat with him afterwards. We had a good discussion about the purpose and the work that this committee is tasked to do by Parliament.

I understand that there is a backlog of reports that we need to review. I'd really like to get some work done. I'm sure everyone around this table would agree with that.

Overall, it was a very good introduction to the world of public accounts for me as a new MP and a new committee member. I'd encourage anyone else to attend next year. It will be toward the end of August in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

With regard to reports that I would take a special interest in, I would take a special interest in the environmental reports. It's been quite some time, I believe, since this committee has looked at any environmental reports. I understand that the environment committee has not been looking at them. I think that might be an opportunity for us to review something that we haven't looked at in a long time.

That's all for me, Mr. Chair.

Kristina Tesser Derksen

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