I did address that at the beginning of my comments that the Speaker doesn't sit on the committee. It's the committee's job to do its job, and not to defer to the Speaker. The Speaker has another job to do, and that's to conduct the House of Commons and all of his other responsibilities without having to go into every committee and be the adjudicator. This isn't a court of law; this is a committee.
We all have our opinions that we put forward, and we back them up with information. For the good of the country, as I was saying, we have to keep battling COVID-19. We have to turn our attention to our mandated responsibility to conduct pre-budget consultations. Minister Freeland made some comments in the media today, and she's going ahead with things that we need to be talking about as a committee.
Canadians need to know that we're listening, and that we're focused on the economy and protecting jobs. This year the pre-budget consultations will be as crucial as ever. We haven't had pre-budget consultations, because of COVID, and now we have to get to them.
As we go forward I'm really hoping that my opposition colleagues will set aside their partisan ambitions and stop trying to grab headlines. I am hoping that Mr. Poilievre's motion will be aside and that the opposition will work with the government to advance what's in the best interests of Canadians right now.
We need to begin pre-budget consultations and to look at the economic and financial plan of the government to continue to fight COVID-19 and to get us us through the economic and health crisis. We need to do that together. The public doesn't need to see partisan bickering. They need to see parliamentarians working together on behalf of their constituents. I'm here to do that, Mr. Chair.