Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I just want to clarify for the members that the supplementary estimates B normally are approved in the fall. We did not have an opportunity to approve them in the fall because of the election and so on. The supplementaries B are for spending that cannot take place until they're approved, so the departments are waiting for estimates to get through before they can move on these items that they have.
Now, I have issues with the way the process works, but that's not the case. I have been on committees, Mr. Chair, where they--including the New Democratic members--didn't want to deal with supplementaries at all. They didn't want to have a meeting on them; they just wanted to deem them as passed. That has been my experience, and I have been hard pressed to get an actual meeting on them. I think in this case, for the finance department, we should.
I don't disagree with Mr. McCallum's approach on having a fulsome study on infrastructure, but you're trying to squeeze supplementaries in. You didn't even mention them in that round, other than to say we'll find a spot for them. I don't think that meets the intent, for me as a member of Parliament, of reviewing the actual spending that's happening and helping those departments that need the money to get approval to see it happen.