Thank you, Mr. Chair. This marks the final review of public accounts for the Standing Committee on Government Operations in the life of the 18th Assembly. Over the years, the standing committee has gained a great deal of knowledge about the public accounts process and has developed its own best practices for dealing with public accounts. This is a really fascinating area of legislatures in Canada and around the world, and there is a great deal of knowledge to learn. It's our hope that some of our knowledge and experience will be transferred on to future Assemblies, and we will be able to see stronger public accounts, processes, and committees to review them moving forward.
Speaking to the contents of the report, we read the report into the record yesterday. I think our findings speak for themselves. We will get into the specific recommendations, but I did want to take this opportunity to recognize the incredible collaborative efforts that the committee recognized from the Comptroller General, Mr. Jamie Koe. Over the years, we have been reviewing the public accounts. Every time the public accounts came back, they were always a bit better.
The public service was very responsive to the concerns that were brought forward from the standing committee. I think we see a much-improved public accounts process and much more legible and public-facing public accounts document at the end of the day. That is exactly one of the things the committee really hoped we would see, a public sector accounting that is transparent, relatable, and as plain-language as possible. It couldn't have been done without both the hard work of my colleagues on the committee with the assistance of the Auditor General of Canada's office and, of course, with the Comptroller General's Office. We greatly appreciate, again, that collaboration and the Comptroller General's attention to the committee's recommendations and the concerns that have been raised over the years.
That being said, the big sticking point remains the privacy concerns around student loan remissions. Although some changes have been made, the committee remains concerned that this marks a breach of student privacy and should be address. At this point, the committee is convinced that it will require legislative change, and that is outside our role as an audit committee. The recommendation speaks for itself, and our findings over the years speak for themselves, too. This is an issue that matters. Privacy, of course, matters. Students who are receiving a benefit and were encouraged to return to the Northwest Territories ought to have their privacy protected. We hope that successor committees and future governments will take this issue seriously and make the required changes to ensure that student privacy is protected in the issuance of the public accounts.
With that, I again would like to thank the Comptroller General, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, and all the Members of the Standing Committee on Government Operations for their hard work over the years and their diligence in reviewing the public accounts. Thank you, Mr. Chair.