I'm good for a little while too. I have a few more things I'd like to say about the obstructionist government that is trying to prevent this committee from hearing witnesses on the budget bill, as duly and honestly negotiated with the official opposition to have 20 hours of witnesses.... We had lots of time this week to do that, but the government has chosen not to do it and to bring in a form of closure.
I know that all members would love to hear from the Business Council of Alberta about the impacts that this budget bill the government is proposing will have on the business community in Alberta, but alas, the MPs on the Liberal side do not want to hear from them. If they did, they would be saying so any time right now and coming in with a point of order and clarifying, “Oh yes, MP Perkins, you're right. You've convinced me. We need to have another nine hours of witnesses and I, as a government member, am willing to spend the time this weekend or the rest of today to do the work because I know there are committee resources available.”
All the government has to do is say yes.
The Business Council of Canada is a very important organization that is usually consulted with in pre-budget consultations, in budget consultations and after budgets. I know that the Minister of Finance may be speaking to them when she is occasionally in Ottawa. Perhaps not, but I have the belief that on national issues the Business Council, which I have met with on several occasions in the last six months, has a lot to say about the effectiveness of the Infrastructure Bank and the spending there, or the ineffectiveness of proposed clones of the Infrastructure Bank that believe, like the Infrastructure Bank does, that there are these massive amounts of money out there from the private sector, which—gee, if we only knew—would come in. The CGF that's proposed in the budget, in this bill, with a corporate structure, I'm sure will have the same effectiveness in attracting private sector money to its goals as the Infrastructure Bank.
I'm sure the Business Council—