Thanks, Mr. Chair.
I would like to congratulate our new first and second vice-chairs.
I don't often agree with Mr. Poilievre, but I do here. I think that a sustainable finance motion is maybe something we can make more specific and develop over the next couple of months, but right away, I think the first issue to tackle would be the issue of corporate welfare.
I find in my riding that many people reacted to the Loblaws grant. That was $12 million that was given to a company that makes massive profits. When people in my riding who are struggling to pay for dental care, who don't have access to pharmacare and who are struggling to keep a roof over their head look at that, they're quite upset.
We should have a study over the next six or eight weeks that really tackles the issue of corporate welfare and these grants that are given and the track record. What does it mean in terms of jobs? Does it produce jobs? Where are the grants going, and are they going to very profitable corporations like Mastercard? These are all issues that I think people would want the finance committee in a minority Parliament to examine.
I agree with the proposal of Mr. Poilievre, and I think it'll be important to put that into place. I can think of witnesses already who would be willing to come before the committee. Fortunately, we have a week off, so we could submit witnesses as early as next week and then have hearings the following week as well as the weeks going into April after the second March break week. If we do it for six or eight meetings, I think we would have a very interesting report that would provide recommendations about the extent to which these grants—I would call them giveaways—have any sort of positive repercussion and the extent to which taxpayers' interests are being protected.
I guess I'm seconding Mr. Poilievre's proposal.