What we found in the audit on the Canada emergency response benefit was exactly that, that the government prioritized the speed of getting payments to individuals in order for them to either stay home or to help replace income they may have lost because of the pandemic. It was also meant to address individuals who might not normally have been eligible for EI but whose hours or jobs may have been cut or reduced; hence, it would help to keep them in a stable economic situation.
What we found in the audit was that the program was rolled out rather quickly. It now will be up to the post-payment work to see whether or not all of the individuals who received the funds were eligible to do so.
Did the government do it quickly? Yes. What we saw was that it was designed and launched in record time compared with other policies when they're newly rolled out and implemented.