Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The committee met at 1234 in room 151.

Subcommittee report

The Chair (Mr. Tom Rakocevic): Good afternoon, everyone. I’d like to call the meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts to order.

The first order of business on the agenda today is a report from the subcommittee on committee business. Can I please have one of the subcommittee members read the report into the record? I recognize MPP Crawford.

Mr. Stephen Crawford: Your subcommittee on committee business met on February 26 and February 28, 2024, and recommends the following:

That the following reports of the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario be reviewed by the committee:

—Value-for-Money Audit: Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre and Ottawa Convention Centre (2023 annual report);

—Value-for-Money Audit: Tourism Support Programs (2023 annual report);

—Review of Government Advertising (2023 annual report); and

—Special Report on Changes to the Greenbelt.

The Chair (Mr. Tom Rakocevic): Any debate or comments?

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I’m just wondering: Was it the opposition or the government who chose the four different areas?

The Chair (Mr. Tom Rakocevic): That was within closed session, so we don’t discuss that in open session, as advised by the Clerk.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Okay. What’s the time frame for these reports to be worked on and reviewed?

The Chair (Mr. Tom Rakocevic): I can allow the Clerk to answer some of those more specific questions.

The Clerk of the Committee (Ms. Tanzima Khan): We will give the auditees at least four weeks of lead time. The first hearing that would be scheduled would be four weeks from today, at the earliest, assuming that one of them is available. Really, we would schedule them based on the auditee’s availability. I can’t really comment on which one is going to be first and last. It will depend, once we’ve reached out to all of the deputy ministers, who is available first. But the first meeting will be—the earliest is four weeks from now.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: With the MTCC and the Ottawa convention centre, will that be the presidents and CEOs of each of those entities, or will it be the Ministry of Tourism that—

The Clerk of the Committee (Ms. Tanzima Khan): It would be both the Deputy Minister of Tourism and it would also be the CEOs. We would have to get confirmation from the auditor’s office to see who the audited entities were that they had spoken to, but typically, it is also the CEOs and heads.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Okay. Thank you.

The Chair (Mr. Tom Rakocevic): Any further debate or comments? Seeing none, are members ready to vote? All those in favour? Opposed? Carried.

We will now move into closed session to begin report writing. The committee will recess for five minutes to allow the Clerk to ensure we are properly in closed session.

The committee recessed at 1236 and later continued in closed session.

STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

Chair / Président

Mr. Tom Rakocevic (Humber River–Black Creek ND)

Vice-Chair / Vice-Présidente

Ms. Donna Skelly (Flamborough–Glanbrook PC)

Mr. Will Bouma (Brantford–Brant PC)

M^me Lucille Collard (Ottawa–Vanier L)

Mr. Stephen Crawford (Oakville PC)

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto (Mississauga–Lakeshore PC)

M^me France Gélinas (Nickel Belt ND)

Mr. Logan Kanapathi (Markham–Thornhill PC)

Mr. Vincent Ke (Don Valley North / Don Valley-Nord IND)

Ms. Lisa MacLeod (Nepean PC)

Mr. Tom Rakocevic (Humber River–Black Creek ND)

Ms. Donna Skelly (Flamborough–Glanbrook PC)

Ms. Laura Smith (Thornhill PC)

Substitutions / Membres remplaçants

Ms. Jennifer K. French (Oshawa ND)

Ms. Natalie Pierre (Burlington PC)

Mr. Peter Tabuns (Toronto–Danforth ND)

Clerk / Greffière

Ms. Tanzima Khan

Staff / Personnel

Mr. Dmitry Granovsky, research officer,
Research Services