I commend the efforts of my dear colleague Mr. Barrett. At the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, we're conducting a study on the issue of the Canada emergency business account. He knows that because he appeared before this committee. In fact, we're trying to do a study on the public accounts. For a few days now, we've been trying to schedule it, but the Conservatives are filibustering to not even hear from the witnesses. We had the Auditor General before us yesterday, and we had other witnesses as well, but the Conservatives filibustered.
Before voting on this motion, I would invite Mr. Barrett to speak with Mr. Perkins and Mr. Genuis, as well as Mr. Cooper, who also sometimes sits on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. I therefore invite Mr. Barrett to speak with his colleagues. I'm all for effective parliamentary committees. If the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics decides to conduct this study on the Canada emergency business account program, you can rest assured that I will not be in favour of wasting taxpayers' money by conducting the same study at the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.
I know it's Christmas and we're all in a hurry to pass motions and go home and say that we've accomplished things, but I invite my colleagues to have a discussion with their other parliamentary colleagues.
In that spirit, Mr. Chair, I want to make sure we're not doubling services or parliamentary accountability. I truly believe in it, but we had many reports tabled in the House by the Auditor General on December 2. We had one on seniors. We had one on Canada summer jobs. Let's make sure our parliamentary committees function in a way that is efficient and that gets to the bottom of the issues. Let's not get stuck like we did with SDTC, where the industry committee was doing the same study at the same time, with the same members asking the same questions at both committees, and with the same witnesses.
I enjoy this idea, and I'm not a regular member of the ethics committee, but we're getting into a doubling of services. I'm sure the Conservatives would agree that this is not an efficient use of taxpayers' dollars when the public accounts committee...unless they can convince their folks at public accounts to let ethics do this particular study and let public accounts focus on other reports of the Auditor General. That way, I will be satisfied in terms of the way it's functioning.
I'm sure the honourable members, as they want to form government, would already have had these conversations with their colleagues to ensure greater efficiency of taxpayer dollars and how they are spent. We, too, spend dollars, and it's important that we show taxpayers respect.