Absolutely, there is a cost. We came out with a tax fairness recovery plan before the budget in which we outlined a number of ways the federal government could generate over $70 billion in additional revenues. These could then be used both for paying for the pandemic by helping to fund the recovery and by introducing new programs such as those.
I do want to say that, after hearing the testimony of others, I really do want to commend parliamentarians and the government for bringing in really important programs. I do think that Canada's programs were some of the best in the world, but I do get concerned when some of them are not that well targeted, which then undermines confidence in government programs. Not only does it cost more, but it also undermines confidence in government programs.
The method of moving forward with things like the CEWS program can be problematic in that way. It would be better if it were targeted at those who really need it, and funds then don't go to things like hedge funds or highly profitable businesses, as we have outlined.
Then there are also different ways that the government could recover some of those funds, such as through an excess profit tax or through other things. We have really seen increasing inequality during this pandemic, and I think people are really compassionate and understanding about what's happened.
We do need to move forward, and there are a lot of ways that the government, which has very large deficits, is going to have to pay for these. There are a lot of ways that government can move forward by taxing the highly profitable corporations and the wealthy who have done very well not only over the past decade but over the pandemic as well.