Okay.
This motion, as intended, makes the executive compensation provisions, which are now in place, retroactive to March 15, 2020 for the emergency wage subsidy. Some concerns around that have been reflected by some other members around this table.
The first and most obvious concern is the substantial legal risk that the government would incur by changing the terms of the program after it has already been accessed by Canadian companies. Notably, at the time when companies were making these decisions, they would have done so following the rules that existed at the time. While this provision is a good one and the government obviously agrees with it in principle—that's why we implemented the executive compensation provisions in the first place—retroactive amendments really should only be made in extremely exceptional circumstances. Those could be a long-standing interpretation of law, clarity of a policy that is unclear from previous relevant provisions, or maybe a change that corrects an ambiguous or deficient provision.
In addition to this overarching principle with regard to retroactivity, there are also a substantial number of technical deficiencies within the proposal, which would likely require more time to work through than we have provided for in this meeting. The tightness of the timing of this bill is regrettable, but I think we all understand the importance of getting these supports and making them available to Canadians before the House rises.
For these reasons, I would encourage members to vote against this amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.