Auditor General Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. A-17)

Estimates

Marginal note:Estimates

• 19 (1) The Auditor General shall annually prepare an estimate of the sums that will be required to be provided by Parliament for the payment of the salaries, allowances and expenses of his office during the next ensuing fiscal year.

• Marginal note:Special report

  (2) The Auditor General may make a special report to the House of Commons in the event that amounts provided for his office in the estimates submitted to Parliament are, in his opinion, inadequate to enable him to fulfil the responsibilities of his office.

Marginal note:Appropriation allotments

20 The provisions of the Financial Administration Act with respect to the division of appropriations into allotments do not apply in respect of appropriations for the office of the Auditor General.

Audit of the Office of the Auditor General

Marginal note:Audit of office of the Auditor General

• 21 (1) A qualified auditor nominated by the Treasury Board shall examine the receipts and disbursements of the office of the Auditor General and shall report annually the outcome of his examinations to the House of Commons.

• Marginal note:Submission of reports and tabling

  (2) Each report referred to in subsection (1) shall be submitted to the President of the Treasury Board on or before the 31st day of December in the year to which the report relates and the President of the Treasury Board shall lay each such report before the House of Commons within fifteen days after receipt thereof by him or, if that House is not then sitting, on any of the first fifteen days next thereafter that the House of Commons is sitting.

Sustainable Development

Marginal note:Purpose

21.1 In addition to carrying out the functions referred to in subsection 23(3), the purpose of the Commissioner is to provide sustainable development monitoring and reporting on the progress of designated entities towards sustainable development, which is a continually evolving concept based on the integration of social, economic and environmental concerns, and which may be achieved by, among other things,

• (a) the integration of the environment and the economy;

• (b) protecting the health of Canadians;

• (c) protecting ecosystems;

• (d) meeting international obligations;

• (e) promoting equity;

• (f) an integrated approach to planning and making decisions that takes into account the environmental and natural resource costs of different economic options and the economic costs of different environmental and natural resource options;

• (g) preventing pollution; and

• (h) respect for nature and the needs of future generations.

Marginal note:Additional functions

21.2 The Commissioner must also carry out the functions assigned to them under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act.

Marginal note:Petitions received

• 22 (1) Where the Auditor General receives a petition in writing from a resident of Canada about an environmental matter in the context of sustainable development that is the responsibility of a designated entity, the Auditor General shall make a record of the petition and forward the petition within fifteen days after the day on which it is received to the appropriate Minister for the designated entity.

• Marginal note:Acknowledgement to be sent

  (2) Within fifteen days after the day on which the Minister receives the petition from the Auditor General, the Minister shall send to the person who made the petition an acknowledgement of receipt of the petition and shall send a copy of the acknowledgement to the Auditor General.

• Marginal note:Minister to respond

  (3) The Minister shall consider the petition and send to the person who made it a reply that responds to it, and shall send a copy of the reply to the Auditor General, within

  • (a) one hundred and twenty days after the day on which the Minister receives the petition from the Auditor General; or

  • (b) any longer time, where the Minister personally, within those one hundred and twenty days, notifies the person who made the petition that it is not possible to reply within those one hundred and twenty days and sends a copy of that notification to the Auditor General.

• Marginal note:Multiple petitioners

  (4) Where the petition is from more than one person, it is sufficient for the Minister to send the acknowledgement and reply, and the notification, if any, to one or more of the petitioners rather than to all of them.

Marginal note:Duty to monitor

• 23 (1) The Commissioner shall make any examinations and inquiries that the Commissioner considers necessary in order to monitor

  • (a) the extent to which designated entities have contributed to meeting the targets set out in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and have met the objectives, and implemented the plans, set out in their own sustainable development strategies laid before the Houses of Parliament under section 11 or 12 of the Federal Sustainable Development Act; and

  • (b) the replies by Ministers required by subsection 22(3).

• Marginal note:Commissioner’s report

  (2) The Commissioner shall, on behalf of the Auditor General, report annually to Parliament concerning anything that the Commissioner considers should be brought to the attention of Parliament in relation to environmental and other aspects of sustainable development, including

  • (a) the extent to which designated entities have contributed to meeting the targets set out in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and have met the objectives, and implemented the plans, set out in their own sustainable development strategies laid before the Houses of Parliament under section 11 or 12 of the Federal Sustainable Development Act;

  • (b) the number of petitions recorded as required by subsection 22(1), the subject-matter of the petitions and their status; and

  • (c) the exercising of the authority of the Governor in Council under sections 12.2 and 12.3 of the Federal Sustainable Development Act.

• Marginal note:Duty to examine

  (3) The Commissioner shall examine the report required under subsection 7(2) of the Federal Sustainable Development Act in order to assess the fairness of the information contained in the report with respect to the progress of the federal government in implementing the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and meeting its targets.

• Marginal note:Duty to report

  (4) The results of any assessment conducted under subsection (3) shall be included in the report referred to in subsection (2) or in the annual report, or in any of the three additional reports, referred to in subsection 7(1).

• Marginal note:Submission and tabling of report

  (5) The report required by subsection (2) shall be submitted to the Speakers of the Senate and the House of Commons and the Speakers shall lay it before their respective Houses on any of the next 15 days on which that House is sitting after the Speaker receives the report.

24 [Repealed, 2008, c. 33, s. 18]