The House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP) is a standing committee of the House of Commons of Canada. It reviews the Auditor General's reports. It is one of four standing committees of the House that is chaired by a member of the opposition. [1]
The Public Accounts Committee's mandate is to "review of and report on the Public Accounts of Canada and all reports of the Auditor General of Canada." It also reviews the government's consolidated financial statements, as well as other matters referred to it by the House.
Whenever, the Speaker tables a report from the Auditor General, the report is automatically referred to the Public Accounts Committee. The committee then calls witnesses to respond to the report's findings. Once their study is concluded, the committee may present a report to the House with recommendations for improvement to government programs.
The committee does not normally weigh in on what the government's policy goals should be, but focusses on the efficiency of government programs at achieving the goals set by the government. [2]
Under the Westminster system, governments cannot spend money or raise taxes without the consent of Parliament. This requires public accounting to ensure Parliament's intent is fulfilled. This has traditionally been done by a public accounts committee.
In Canada, the Public Accounts Committee has existed since Confederation in 1867 and is the successor to previous bodies that had a similar function. [2]
The membership of the committee at the time of prorogation on January 6, 2025 is as follow. [3]
| Party | Member | District | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Jean Yip, Vice-Chair | Scarborough—Agincourt, ON | |
| Liberal | Valerie Bradford | Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON | |
| Liberal | Iqra Khalid | Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON | |
| Liberal | Francis Drouin | Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON | |
| Liberal | Hon. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith | Beaches—East York, ON | |
| Conservative | John Williamson, Chair | New Brunswick Southwest, NB | |
| Conservative | John Nater | Perth—Wellington, ON | |
| Conservative | Jake Stewart | Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB | |
| Conservative | Kelly McCauley | Edmonton West, AB | |
| Bloc | Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Vice-Chair | Terrebonne, QC | |
| New Democratic | Richard Cannings | South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC | |
On December 16, 2021, Tom Kmiec was elected chair of the committee. [4] Kmiec left the committee on February 28, 2022 and John Williamson was elected chair the next day. [5]
Under Williamson, the Public Accounts Committee studied a wide range of issues, most notably the outsourcing on government contracts related to ArriveCAN, [6] the investigation into conflicts of interest at Sustainable Development Technology Canada, [7] and audits of the government's COVID-19 programs. [8]
On December 27, 2024, Williamson used his ability as chair to schedule a committee meeting on January 7, 2025, to discuss "a motion of non-confidence in the Liberal Government." [9] However, the day before the scheduled meeting, Justin Trudeau prorogued Parliament, cancelling all business of the House, including scheduled committee meetings. [10]
Throughout the 1st Session of the 44th Parliament, the committee held 159 meetings [11] and published a total of 44 reports. [12]