Tuesday, April 16, 2002 Mr. Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, NDP): Mr. Speaker, institutional investors, such as the carpenters union, are increasingly concerned about the independence of financial auditors in Canada. In light of the Enron scandal, they believe that an auditor's independence could be compromised if they are selling other non-audit services to the same company. The retirement security of millions of Canadians could depend on the integrity of auditor independence. Will the Minister of Finance agree that this practice poses a potential risk to investors? Will he commit today to investigate the matter and bring forth legislation that would disqualify auditors if they are providing other non-audit services to the same company? Hon. Paul Martin (Minister of Finance, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the concerns of the carpenters union is very much on point. While much of the action required is within provincial jurisdiction, we are indeed looking into the matter. We are doing so at the international level within the G-7 and within the IMF. We are also doing so within Canada. In fact some three weeks ago there was a very important meeting which the federal government attended along with all of the stakeholders in Toronto, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants. The hon. member is absolutely right. Maintaining the integrity of our financial markets really does depend on the quality of our financial statements.
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