It is clear to us that certain senior officials at Public Works will continue in the direction they have started in. There are four projects worth over $1 billion each over a period of eight to 20 years, which amounts to over $80 billion. This is twice the amount of the economic stimulus plan.
The Department of Public Works has told us several times that it did not have any specific numbers for us. It kept on repeating that it had neither a business plan nor any case studies regarding the project. That is absolutely incredible.
Last week, after the department told us for months that it had no intention of developing a business plan because it did not have the necessary data, we received an e-mail telling us that the business plan will be completed by March. So are we to believe that the department will put a business plan together in a month and a half?
If Public Works implements its plan, your committee will not be studying anymore why it is hard for SMEs to access government contracts, but rather why the vast majority of SMEs have disappeared despite growth in the sector and what role the Canadian government played in their disappearance.
Of course, the multinationals will immediately say that they are more than willing to sign subcontracts with the SMEs in order to reassure the government. But the reality is quite different. Why would the multinationals even think about entering into long-term contracts with SMEs, when it would be much more profitable for them to simply hire employees to do the same work, and even to outsource some of the jobs abroad?
The government cannot force multinationals to do business with SMEs, and that is not what we want either. We want to be able to put forward innovative solutions at competitive prices, which would be in the best interest of Canadian taxpayers.