HANSARD
NOVA SCOTIA HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
COMMITTEE
ON
PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
COMMITTEE ROOM
Organizational Meeting
Printed and Published by Nova Scotia Hansard Reporting Services
Public Accounts Committee
Susan Leblanc (Chair)
Marco MacLeod (Vice Chair)
Hon. Brian Wong
Tom Taggart
Tim Outhit
Dianne Timmins
Lisa Lachance
Hon. Iain Rankin
Hon. Derek Mombourquette
[Hon. Brian Wong was replaced by Brad McGowan.]
In Attendance:
Kim Langille
Committee Clerk
Gordon Hebb
Chief Legislative Counsel
Kim Adair
Auditor General
HALIFAX, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2025
STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
9:00 A.M.
CHAIR
Susan Leblanc
VICE CHAIR
Marco MacLeod
THE CHAIR: I’m going to call this meeting to order. Order, please. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts. My name is Susan Leblanc. I am the MLA for Dartmouth North, and I am the Chair of this committee. This is the first time I’ve chaired this committee therefore I ask for your indulgence. There’s a lot to do today and a lot to talk about, and I hope that it stays on track.
I am very happy to be here. I’m very happy that this committee is here and reformed. I just want to do a couple of reminders before we start. First of all, make sure your phones are on silent, please. If there is a need to leave the building, please exit through the doors onto Granville Street - those ones - and then we will gather at the Grand Parade.
Before we get any further, I’m going to ask all committee members to introduce themselves. When you do, please say your name, the constituency you represent, and the pronouns that you use. We’ll start with the member here.
[The committee members introduced themselves.]
THE CHAIR: I didn’t mention that my pronouns are she/her.
I’d also like to note that there are officials from the Auditor General’s Office here. The Auditor General is here. Welcome. Also in attendance are officials from the Legislative Counsel Office and the Legislative Committees Office.
As I said before, this is the first meeting of the newly constituted Public Accounts Committee, and we’re calling this our organizational meeting. We’re going to talk about a lot of different things, and there will be time after each section for discussion. I will ask for members’ input on a number of things. A brief overview of committee procedures will be provided, and a number of decisions have to be made today.
The first thing on the agenda is committee business. It’s the review of committee procedures. The clerk, Ms. Langille - am I supposed to let you folks introduce yourselves? (Laughter) Sorry. The clerk distributed a package of reference information to everybody.
The mandate of the committee states that: “The Public Accounts Committee is established for the purpose of reviewing the public accounts, the annual report or other report of the Auditor General and any other financial matters respecting the public funds of the Province,” per Section 60(2)(b) of the Rules and Forms of Procedure of the House of Assembly. That’s our mandate. We will read that at the beginning of every meeting to remind us why we are here.
The Public Accounts Committee has been meeting weekly on Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Meetings of the Public Accounts Committee are televised and livestreamed and are open to the public to attend. Transcripts are produced and available. Our microphones, I think with the exception of mine, are operated remotely by Legislative Television Broadcast and Recording Services. I will recognize members before you speak, and also the witnesses who are here in attendance. You do not have to touch your microphones. I will recognize you.
Let’s just have an example: MLA MacLeod. MLA MacLeod’s microphone will turn on remotely. When MLA MacLeod is finished speaking, the microphone turns off. Wait for the red light to come on before you speak to ensure that your comments are captured for the record. Try not to do what I just did, which is bang the microphone with your papers, because it hurts the ears of the people at Legislative TV.
In addition to the committee clerk, Legislative Committees Office, and Legislative staff, the Auditor General and Legislative Counsel also attend the meetings of the committee. The Auditor General and Legislative Counsel will be provided with an opportunity to comment on their roles relative to the committee.
Legislative Counsel, would you like to say anything about your role at the committee?
GORDON HEBB: My role is limited. I’m like our title: Legislative Counsel. We are the legal advisers or the parliamentary counsel for the committee and we’re here to provide legal advice and support the Chair and the committee. We can provide advice to individual members if need be. That’s all I have to say.
THE CHAIR: Sometimes we will have a question - we don’t know what the procedure is for something - and we will refer the question to Legislative Counsel.
Auditor General, would you like to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your role?
KIM ADAIR: Sure. Good morning, everyone. My name is Kim Adair, Auditor General, and like the Chair, I’m very pleased to meet the new committee this morning and to get under way.
I’m just going to take you through a few things so that everyone has context and an understanding about the working relationship of my office with the Public Accounts Committee. It’s an extremely important relationship. I am an independent officer of the House of Assembly. I report to all 55 MLAs. I’m accountable to all 55 members of the House, but I have a direct reporting relationship to this committee. It is embedded in the Auditor General Act, and I’ll just quote for you that section of the Act which describes the relationship. It’s Section 17(2) of the AG Act, and it says that at the request of the Public Accounts Committee, the Auditor General and employees of the office shall attend meetings of the committee or its subcommittees in order to assist the committee in planning its agenda for review of reports from my office, assist the committee in its review of the reports of the office, advise the committee with respect to any committee activities, and discuss the plans and performance of my office.
Essentially, it’s an advisory capacity. We’re here to support you, to facilitate the committee and the work of the committee in meetings - its overall objective, as the Chair raised at the start of the meeting. Also in our strategic plan, we have a number of strategic objectives. One of them is to collaborate with the Public Accounts Committee to advance its effectiveness in holding government accountable. We have a performance indicator that we put in our annual report - our performance report. We have a target that is to have at least 80 per cent or higher MLA satisfaction in our work. From time to time, we survey the members of the Public Accounts Committee, as well as the other MLAs, and in our last reported result, that was at 92 per cent. It’s very important to us that we are meeting your needs and satisfying what you are asking of us in our role to support the work of this committee.
A bit of what’s coming up from my office: We have about eight to nine AG reports between February 11th, I think, is the first one up - a finance report - and looking to the end of December. Our plan is about eight to nine reports. Each time I table a report, the day following - generally - we have an in camera briefing with the committee. Then after that, there’s a public meeting. That’s 16 meetings. You’re going to see a lot of me. The in camera briefings that we have - the purpose of those is to familiarize yourselves with the contents of our report, the recommendations, and to prepare you for the public meeting when the deputy ministers of the department responsible are here before the committee as witnesses. That’s an important aspect of what we do for the committee.
We also have a role on the subcommittee. I typically attend subcommittee meetings and work with the members in setting the agenda and picking the non-AG topics. We call them other topics, non-audit topics. I’m sure, as the day goes ahead, you’ll learn more about that.
Maybe I’ll stop at that. The idea is that it’s an extremely important relationship to me personally. I take it upon myself to really encourage the committee and do training in terms of best practice in being a non-partisan committee, which is what PAC is intended to be. There’s going to be training discussed here later, too, so I’ll stop at that.
THE CHAIR: Just FYI, I have already skipped to another part of the agenda. We’ve heard from Legislative Counsel and the Auditor General. We were supposed to do that later. It doesn’t really matter, but if there are questions for either, we’ll come back to that in a bit. As well, the Legislative Library prepares a research briefing for members to aid in their preparation for meetings. This document is provided to members in electronic format, along with the meeting notice. Today, if you look, you’ve been provided with a sheet that looks like this, and that is just a little précis of what the research briefings are and how we can use them. Thank you to the Legislative librarians who put that together.
Witnesses who appear before the Public Accounts Committee are provided an opportunity to make brief remarks prior to the question and answer period at the close of the questioning. Depending on how many witnesses we choose and who’s coming to the meeting, their amounts of time will be allotted based on that, because we want to have lots of time to question witnesses but also to hear the information we need from them. That will be an ongoing day-by-day on how much time people get, but they will be provided that information in advance.
During a regular PAC meeting, an equal amount of time is allotted to each caucus to allow questions during the question period. There are two rounds of questioning generally. The first round is 20 minutes, and then the second round is around 10 to 14 minutes, depending on how much time there is, how much committee business we have to get through, how many witnesses there are, and that kind of thing. Generally, the order of questioning goes: The Official Opposition goes first, then the third party, and then the governing party. All questions are to be directed through the Chair.
At Public Accounts, there’s no notice required to introduce a motion; however, if members are intending to make a motion at a meeting, it’s helpful if it’s emailed to the clerk. When the motion is put forward at the meeting, then the clerk will distribute it via email to the members. This is not required, but it is a practice that we’ve been using so that everyone has a chance to see a written motion in front of them before voting on it. Sometimes you know that you’re going to introduce a motion well in advance, and that can be distributed well in advance of the meeting.
Also, if members are reading from a document that has not already been provided to the committee, it needs to be tabled. A copy can be provided at the meeting or it can be emailed to the clerk.
The Public Accounts Committee has a subcommittee on agenda and procedures, which meets in camera at the call of the Chair to propose topics to go forward to the full committee for approval. It also reviews the committee’s annual report, monitors committee work and reviews sensitive documents and other such responsibilities as deemed necessary. The subcommittee is established by the full committee, and the establishment of that subcommittee is later on today’s agenda. If you are dying to be on the subcommittee, give that a bit of thought right now.
Reports of the Auditor General: We already know that the Auditor General informs the committee of the release dates for upcoming reports by the clerk, and we do have a list of those upcoming ones that everyone has been provided with today. The committee meets with the Auditor General on the Wednesday after a report is released. This meeting is held in camera and the members are briefed, as the Auditor General has told us. The week following the meeting with the Auditor General, the witnesses are called in relation to that report for a public meeting. This all seems possibly very confusing and kind of gobbledygooky, but it will become clear once we get our stride.
[9:15 a.m.]
Before we move on, are there any questions about anything that has been discussed thus far? Okay, great. We’re going to move on, then, to the Subcommittee on Agendas and Procedures and we’re going to establish that committee. The Public Accounts Committee has traditionally established a Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedures which conducts agenda-setting. Decisions of the subcommittee then go forward to the full committee for approval. The subcommittee has consisted of the Chair - me - the Vice Chair - MLA MacLeod - and a member of the third party. In recent years, a member of the Official Opposition has also been named to the subcommittee, with the Chair being non-voting.
The latest form of the subcommittee has been the Chair, the Vice Chair, a member of the Official Opposition, and a member of the third party. In that case, the Chair does not vote. We need to establish that committee, so I need to call for a motion to establish the committee. Does anyone have a motion that they can put forward to establish the subcommittee with members? MLA MacLeod.
MARCO MACLEOD: Good morning. I’ll put forward a motion to establish the subcommittee.
THE CHAIR: Can you further that motion by describing the makeup of the committee which is the little - oh no, you don’t have this - made up of the Chair, the Vice Chair, a member of the third party, and a member of the Official Opposition?
MARCO MACLEOD: Absolutely. That subcommittee will consist of the Chair, the Vice Chair, a member of the third party, and the Official Opposition.
THE CHAIR: Is there any discussion on that motion? One moment, MLA Taggart. We need to hear from MLA Mombourquette as to which member of the third party (laughter) will be sitting on the subcommittee. MLA Mombourquette.
HON. DEREK MOMBOURQUETTE: It will be MLA Mombourquette sitting on the committee.
THE CHAIR: Let me just clarify: the motion will be the Chair, MLA Leblanc; the Vice Chair, MLA MacLeod; member of the Official Opposition, MLA Lachance; and MLA Mombourquette. That would make up the subcommittee. MLA Taggart.
TOM TAGGART: I think there should possibly be an amendment in there that says the Chair is non-voting because in the motion, it said “Chair, Vice Chair, and two others,” right?
THE CHAIR: Do you want to put that amendment forward?
TOM TAGGART: I don’t know the proper wording, but I would like to put forward an amendment that says in that committee, the Chair is a non-voting member.
THE CHAIR: Thanks for that amendment.
AN HON. MEMBER: Do you need seconds?
THE CHAIR: I don’t know. We do not.
KIM LANGILLE: You have to vote on the amendment.
THE CHAIR: We’re going to vote on the amendment, which is to make sure that the Chair is non-voting.
All those in favour? Contrary minded? Thank you.
That amendment is carried.
Now, unless there is any discussion, we’ll vote on the amended motion which is - I don’t think I need to repeat it again.
All those in favour? Contrary minded? Thank you.
The motion is carried.
The subcommittee has been established.
Just for members’ information, generally when we’re voting, the motions do not need a seconder, but I admire your moxie and your energy. (Laughter) Also, the Chair does have a vote in regular motions and the Chair has a second vote if there’s a tie.
Great. Thank you very much for that. Now we have to look at our meeting schedule. As mentioned earlier, the Public Accounts Committee generally meets Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Is there any discussion about that meeting time? Excellent. So we will just continue with that plan and that meeting time.
There are a number of upcoming Auditor General reports. If you look at this page here, this has a number of the reports coming up. We will refer to that. The Auditor General will be releasing reports in the coming weeks and months. If you look at this list, February 11th is the 2025 financial report, March 4th is the report on funding to universities, and April 15th is the follow-up report of the 2020, 2021, and 2022 performance audits.
The Chair - that’s me - will be calling a subcommittee meeting next week to review the suggested witnesses for these reports as provided by the Auditor General. Do I have to do that right now? That’s just for information. The subcommittee - all you lucky folks - will meet next week, and we will discuss how we’re going to move forward with the committee agenda.
MLA Mombourquette.
HON. DEREK MOMBOURQUETTE: Sorry if I missed this. Did we choose a day we meet at the subcommittee? No? Okay.
THE CHAIR: The Chair calls the meetings of the subcommittee, but generally, I think we’re going to try to do them directly following Public Accounts meetings. I believe next week it will be at 11 o’clock, but we’ll confirm that.
Next, we want to talk abut training. The Public Accounts - pardon me. MLA MacLeod.
MARCO MACLEOD: I thought maybe we could use this opportunity to talk about scheduling for meetings. The previous Public Accounts Committee set a precedent, and with respect to the fine work they did, this is a new group - a different group. We have many new members. It’s nice that we’re mentioning training, because we will definitely take advantage of that.
We understand the importance of a functional, effective public accounts committee for jurisdictions all across this country. I’d like to request, if it’s possible, a jurisdictional scan to be conducted to see how other public accounts committees are done. As Vice Chair, we would be comfortable with revisiting the topic of the frequency of these meetings after that scan is completed. Do I need to put forward a motion to make that happen? If we agree . . .
THE CHAIR: Why don’t you make a motion so there can be discussion?
MARCO MACLEOD: I’ll make a motion. Okay, thank you.
THE CHAIR: Go ahead. MLA MacLeod.
MARCO MACLEOD: I move that the Public Accounts Committee defer voting on a meeting schedule until such time as a jurisdictional scan be completed regarding the standard schedules of other Canadian public accounts committees.
THE CHAIR: Okay, there’s a motion on the floor. Is there any discussion on that motion? Who will do that jurisdictional scan? Can we ask the Legislative Library to do it?
Let’s vote on the motion. All those in favour? Contrary minded? Thank you.
The motion is carried.
We will address - I think some of this will be addressed when we do training with the CAAF, but we’ll make sure it happens. It may be covered as we go through the meeting.
Training: The Public Accounts Committee functions differently from other legislative committees, as it does in Legislatures across the country and across the Commonwealth. It is a bipartisan committee where all the members are working to - we don’t comment on the merits of policy, but rather the implementation of policy. The policy is set at a totally different level. When we ask questions of the witnesses, it’s not about what they think of the policy or if a policy is good or bad. It’s how the policy that’s been determined by the government of the day is being implemented.
That is very different from the other committees. Often it’s difficult to get one’s head around that when we’re asking questions. This is why training for the Public Accounts Committee is particularly important. Also, of course, we do look at the public accounts, which, if you’re not an accountant, can be somewhat new for people. Looking at all of those numbers can be a new experience. There are a number of trainings that we would like to propose.
The Department of Finance and Treasury Board has provided - sorry. The first one is an orientation session with the Auditor General’s Office. Last time the committee was struck, there was an orientation session provided by the Auditor General. I’d like to propose that we do that again. It was very helpful the last time. The proposed date for that orientation meeting is February 12th.
I wonder if the Auditor General would like to make any general comments about that orientation session, and then we can open the floor up for discussion. Ms. Adair.
KIM ADAIR: The date works fine. I plan to bring my senior leadership team to give you an introduction to everyone who’s involved behind the scenes and will appear from time to time. We’re all set to present to you all of the details further to what I’ve already said this morning about the inner functioning of the office, the size of the office, and the performance audits that we have slated to come in the coming year. We’re looking forward to doing it.
THE CHAIR: Is there any discussion about that date for the orientation from the Auditor General’s Office? We’ll say February 12th. Thank you.
Next, the Department of Finance and Treasury Board has generously offered to provide some training on the reading of the public accounts. This has happened in every iteration of the committee that I’ve been on, and it’s very helpful. They were thinking, and we were thinking, that it would be helpful for them to come and hold a session before we look at the Auditor General’s financial report. That report is being released to the public on February 11th. I’m proposing that the date for the training with the Department of Finance and Treasury Board is February 5th, which is next week’s meeting. That would be in camera, so we can ask all the questions we need to ask.
Is there any discussion on that training from the Department of Finance and Treasury Board on February 5th? Great, we’ll call it that, then.
Thirdly, the Canadian Audit & Accountability Foundation has a lot of resources available for Public Accounts Committee members. They’re very willing to come - sometimes it’s online, sometimes it’s in person - to hold trainings for public accounts committees. I believe in an email we got information and a letter of welcome from the CAAF to members, and I would like to propose that we contact the CAAF for some training, which they have provided to previous public accounts committees.
I would like to open the floor for discussion on that. Actually, I will begin the discussion.
I will say that in my time on the Public Accounts Committee, I think I’ve been part of two or three trainings here in Nova Scotia, and then also I’ve seen presentations by the CAAF at the various annual conferences of public accounts committees. They’re excellent. Again, they’re usually made up of, in my experience, retired politicians who have sat on public accounts committees in their elected life. Usually, they bring a non-partisan group. Last time, we had Kevin Sorenson, who had been a member of the federal Conservatives, and David Christopherson, who was a member of the federal NDP, and the two of them were really excellent. We can learn a lot from them, and I think that I have really appreciated the training. I highly recommend it.
[9:30 a.m.]
MLA Taggart.
TOM TAGGART: I just want to say that I participated in one of those. It’s great information; it really is. I support it fully.
MARCO MACLEOD: I also agree with that sentiment. This committee should be effective, and the best way to be effective is to know what we’re doing and to stay on track. (Laughter) Yes, absolutely. Let’s take this opportunity to get some training.
KIM LANGILLE: We don’t have a date for that yet.
THE CHAIR: We don’t have a date yet for that, but now that we - oh, Ms. Adair.
KIM ADAIR: I just want, for planning purposes, to get a sense for the length of time you’d like for that training session to be. MLA Taggart mentioned the last time it was two half-day sessions. Would you be interested in something similar to that, or do you want it only to be the two-hour window during a regular PAC day? I just wanted to open that up for discussion so that we can plan it accordingly.
TOM TAGGART: I don’t believe two hours is really enough to get a real, solid feel for that. It will create a lot of questions, and I just think two half-days would be well used if we decide to go that way.
THE CHAIR: Two half-days. MLA Taggart.
TOM TAGGART: Do you want a motion? For discussion, I’ll put out a motion that we have CAAF training similar to what we had last year. It was two sessions. I don’t know the time. I don’t think it’s required - two, I’m going to call them, half-day sessions. Whatever they believe is appropriate.
THE CHAIR: Do we need to vote on that, or is that just helpful for the Auditor General? I don’t think we need to vote on that, but great. Thank you for your input. Did you have your hand up? Great. Somebody will contact CAAF, and we’ll figure that out. That’s great.
Oh my gosh, are we actually at the end? Great. Well done. (Interruption)
The clerk has asked me to clarify. Until the jurisdictional scan is complete, I think that we will continue to meet on Wednesdays between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. until there is a motion to change that. Does that make sense to everyone? MLA MacLeod.
MARCO MACLEOD: Absolutely. I think before we make a decision, it will be important to be informed in order to make the right decision.
THE CHAIR: Great. Thank you very much to everyone. The next meeting date will be next Wednesday, February 5th. That will be an in camera meeting with the Department of Finance and Treasury Board for some training on how to read the public accounts.
MLA MacLeod.
MARCO MACLEOD: I do have one speaking point about a motion that I’d like to put forward.
THE CHAIR: Go ahead.
MARCO MACLEOD: I’ve been lucky enough to spend two seasons on the back of a fishing boat, and we have a serious issue here in this province, especially on the southwest shore. The federal Liberal government has consistently failed to deliver on its legislated requirement to address the issue of illegal fishing.
In September of this past year, the Premier wrote a letter to the federal Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard requesting increased enforcement and officers to help address this issue. The department’s response did not validate those concerns and offered no clarification as to when Fisheries and Oceans Canada would take action. The circumstances that have transpired have caused significant damage to our province, even endangering the lives of the individuals involved and threatening their livelihoods. Our provincial department has worked diligently to advocate for more support, and it’s fallen on deaf ears.
For this reason, I’d like to make the following motion:
Whereas Nova Scotia’s fishing industry is one of the most significant economic drivers of our province; and
Whereas the federal government has failed to effectively address this issue;
I move that the Public Accounts Committee schedule a meeting titled “The financial impacts of illegal fishing on Nova Scotia’s southwestern shore” with witnesses including Tim Kerr, director of conservation and protection in the Maritimes, Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Doug Wentzell, associate regional director general, Fisheries and Oceans Canada; and finally, a representative of the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
THE CHAIR: Okay, thank you very much. Before I open it up for discussion, I will say that normally we would set our agenda in an agenda-setting meeting with the afore-formed subcommittee. This would be out of the ordinary, making this motion and passing it in this meeting, but I will open it up for discussion.
MLA Lachance.
LISA LACHANCE: Just a couple of things: Clearly, it’s a critical issue, but when I look at the mandate of the Public Accounts Committee, it’s often a backward-looking committee. I think it’s a more appropriate topic for another committee, like Natural Resources and Economic Development. In those committees, you’re better able to move outside of what’s already happened. I think, also, Public Accounts is what has financially happened. I don’t think this falls under our mandate at all, but I think Natural Resources and Economic Development would be.
I would also like - I assume you have that - that’s a long motion. It would be great if they can be circulated ahead of time so that we have a chance to read them. I know that’s something that members of the government have requested several times from us, so I’d like the same courtesy.
THE CHAIR: Thank you, MLA Lachance.
MLA Mombourquette.
HON. DEREK MOMBOURQUETTE: I don’t disagree with the motion - just a question. In your motion, you didn’t mention the Department of Natural Resources, which the enforcement comes from. Maybe I missed that in the motion.
I guess it was a procedural thing. I completely understand what the member’s trying to do. I’m just trying to determine whether this was the right committee for it or the Natural Resources and Economic Development committee - one of the other committees as well. You have a motion here. It may pass, most likely, but if it does, I would just ensure that Natural Resources is part of that.
THE CHAIR: MLA MacLeod.
MARCO MACLEOD: Thank you, guys, for your insight. I appreciate that. If I read here about Public Accounts: “financial matters respecting the public funds of the Province.” I would argue that due to the shortcomings of the federal department involved, the provincial government has had additional expenditures looking backward where the Province has had to ramp up operations at the expense of the taxpayer. So that would be my argument and the reason to put that forward.
THE CHAIR: One moment. MLA MacLeod, MLA Mombourquette suggested adding a witness from the Department of Natural Resources. MLA Mombourquette, you can propose that amendment if you like; we should get that on the record as an amendment.
DEREK MOMBOURQUETTE: Thank you, Chair. I would move an amendment to the motion to also add the Department of Natural Resources to the conversation.
THE CHAIR: Is there any discussion on that amendment?
All those in favour? Contrary minded? Thank you.
The amendment is carried.
Now MLA Lachance.
LISA LACHANCE: I don’t doubt that there have been expenditures related to both program support and just the simple act of advocating on behalf of the province. I query whether that would actually be available to review. Again, forward-looking policy discussion, as far as I’m concerned, is better at other committees or addressed through legislation or debate in the House. I’m not sure it’s best served under the mandate of this committee. I don’t know if those witnesses will come forward, especially because it’s ongoing, with the financial information and program information that we would normally review in this committee.
THE CHAIR: Thank you, MLA Lachance. Is there any other discussion on the amended motion? I’ll call for a vote.
All those in favour? Contrary minded? Thank you.
The motion is carried.
I will ask the clerk to look to schedule that meeting in due time.
If there is no further business, then I will adjourn the meeting. The meeting is now adjourned.
[The committee adjourned at 9:41 a.m.]
