Let me go back to a very important issue. Unlike other ombudsmen, we are not dealing with personal grievances. We are dealing with commercial transactions. Two parties have either signed, or are about to sign, a commercial contract, and that contract gives both parties rights and obligations. I am not going to be a lobbyist or an apologist for either party.
My role is to be neutral and come across as a neutral person. My job is not to make Public Works less daunting to anybody or get more business for any SME. My job is to make sure the playing field is level and the procurement process is done in a fair, open, and transparent manner, and whatever it takes to get the job done, we will get that done.
You talk about not getting enough debriefings. We have a chapter in here that came out of the concerns that the small and medium enterprises expressed to us again and again that they were not getting the debriefings.
The big companies really don't care about debriefings, to be honest with you. They have enough lawyers and they have experts in the field? It's the small guys who need guidance and who need somebody to help.
On your assertion that Public Works cannot manage contracts, I'm sorry, but I'm not there yet. I think there are a lot of very dedicated public servants in Public Works and other government departments working very hard under very difficult circumstances to produce the results they're producing.
I think one of the things they would really like from this committee is some appreciation of the effort these public servants do put in. There are so many transactions now and so few people, and they've come through such a tough time. But I think that's one of the things the committee would perhaps get to hear from transactions...to get into systemic issues. And hey, let's show some respect for the work these people are doing, because they are trying hard.