Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm a supporter of the notion of public service. I believe that there is a positive role for the government to play in the economic life of the country. These are all things that I believe in and that I defend.
I have to say that I've been very disheartened by today's interaction with some of our lead civil servants on a really important file. Presumably, this is the table of advisers that the ministers have around them when they're planning important programs.
I've asked for a breakdown of the budget. I don't know if they really don't have that answer or if they're on a mission of obfuscation. If that's true, it certainly doesn't manifest the kind of respect that there ought to be for the legislative branch of government.
If they don't have the answer, then what are we to draw from that? Does this mean that the minister, sitting around the table with her advisers, didn't bother to ask this question, so nobody has created the answer? When we ask about the Canada worker lockdown benefit and if it would apply in any region of the country between October 23 and now, and they don't have the answer, does that mean the minister didn't ask? Does that mean that Minister Qualtrough didn't ask it of this table, didn't say, “Hey guys, we're putting together a piece of legislation and it's retroactive...”? They've emphasized the importance of the retroactivity of the legislation. Did the minister never ask where in the country it would apply retroactively?
Either you have to conclude that our civil servants, who ought to be treating the legislature with respect, aren't being up front about some of these questions, or you have to conclude that the people who are running the country never bothered to ask them. Neither one is a very good outcome for Canadians.
I have to say.... I know that we've been in a rush because the Prime Minister took his sweet time bringing Parliament back, but the departments have been developing this legislation for a while. The ministers have had ample opportunity to ask the questions that have been posed here today. I don't think I've been asking particularly political questions. They're just questions of fact about the bill: How it works, why certain decisions were made to leave certain things out and what the budget breakdown is. But we can't get a straight answer: We've been here for almost four hours and I haven't gotten one thing that I would classify as an answer to a question I've asked, Mr. Chair.
I'm really quite beside myself with displeasure at the way that this has unfolded, and I certainly hope that we're going to get some answers in the rest of our testimony or this really doesn't do much for anyone. I'm hoping that people are going to get their act together and we're actually going to be able to get some answers to questions, because so far this has been a waste of time.