Thank you, Chair.
Timely is the only comment I wanted to make. The reason I will support this motion from Martha Hall Findlay is that when I look at the mandate of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, it quite clearly states in subparagraph 108(3)(c)(iii) that it is to review of and report on the effectiveness, management, and operation of specific operational and expenditure items across all departments and agencies.
Therefore, the language that Martha Hall Findlay and the Liberals have put forward in this study is that the committee conduct a study of the renewable energy project funding by the Government of Canada, which has great interest to me above and beyond the rather salacious details associated with Rahim Jaffer and lobbying. If it were strictly about lobbying, it would be a matter before the ethics committee, not the government operations committee.
This is a program that I get more letters on than anything else lately, because the government gave an extra $80 million to this program and then killed it in this budget. Phones are ringing off the hook, and letters are flying. People want to know why the renewable energy project funding has been cut. We'd like to know more details about how that money was spent and distributed, and generally more about the operations of that program.
Thank you.