Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to go back to what Mr. Lawrence was just saying to the committee. I thought it would be worthwhile for us to reflect on that for just one moment.
He referred to the grocery rebate as “cheap marketing”. The premise of his argument was that the mechanism to deliver relief for folks who are struggling with the cost of groceries is similar to the mechanisms used to provide the GST rebate. I think that is really disappointing.
When COVID-19 hit and we provided the CERB to folks who needed that support or supports to businesses, we used mechanisms, some of which were new and some of which were similar to mechanisms that had been used in the past. I don't remember Mr. Lawrence or the Conservatives calling that cheap marketing. People out there are struggling with the cost of groceries in my community and across this country. The government is responding to that by saying that it's going to deliver help to them as quickly as possible.
Obviously, we need to pass this bill, so hopefully the Conservatives will pass it quickly. At the end of the day, to suggest that help provided to the folks who are struggling to pay their bills—their grocery bills specifically—is cheap marketing is, I think, disappointing and shameful.
I think it's a reflection of where the Conservatives are right now. On the one hand, they talk about how folks are struggling with the cost of living, but when we propose measures to help them with the cost of living, they either vote against it or they try to pare it down and call it cheap marketing.
I just wanted to point out that contradiction and hypocrisy.
With that, I'd like to come back to our witness and the BIA.
Could someone speak a little bit about the way the Department of Finance undertook consultations on some of the measures listed in part 1 of the bill?