The NDP said initially that they were with us in favouring transparency and supporting workers. They flip-flopped. In their earlier vote, they were against transparency for workers.
We're giving them a chance, with this amendment, to flop back and to recognize that, when thousands of dollars per Canadian family are on the line, when public subsidies are going into companies that are using those subsidies to hire foreign replacement workers instead of creating good jobs here in Canada, Canadians deserve to see what is in those contracts.
Our amendments restore the original language that was used. I think it is the right and appropriate approach. It gives the NDP and all members a chance to actually stand with workers.
There's an important principle here, Mr. Chair. In a minority Parliament—in any Parliament, frankly—committees should exercise the powers they have to send for documents, to hold powerful people accountable, to challenge the executive and to deliver meaningful results.
What we have right now is a desperate, flailing government that is profoundly unpopular and responsible for untold misery across this country. They are sustained in their position not by persuasion and not by openness or argument. They are sustained by a secret backroom deal that leads to constant concessions from the NDP. We have, in effect, an NDP-Liberal government, where spending is out of control and we see crime, chaos and disorder escalating.
We have a Prime Minister, it's worth remembering, who said eight years ago that sunlight “is the best disinfectant”. He said that he wanted to lead a government that was open by default. Now we have not only a Liberal government that's against openness and transparency, but we also have the NDP doing their dirty work by helping to hide these contracts and this information.
Their fig leaf of cover for it is to say, “Let's request an ATIP. Let's go through the ATIP process.” The member doesn't need this committee to do an ATIP. If the member for the NDP wants to do an ATIP request, he can go online just like any other citizen and file an ATIP request and ask for this information to be provided. If he hasn't used the ATIP process in a while, he will find that the government will stonewall, delay and do everything it can to avoid actually providing the information.
This is where, on critical issues of public interest, parliamentary committees should have the courage to exercise their powers. We have an NDP-Liberal government now that is shutting down that transparency. I hope that the NDP will reconsider. I hope they will flop back to their original position, after flip-flopping once, and support our amendment, which will lead to the full disclosure to the public of these contracts.
Again, we don't want MPs, by themselves, looking at these things in a dark room. We don't want, as Mr. Sousa and now Mr. Masse have proposed, restrictions and limitations constraining the ability of people to actually know what happened here. We believe in what the Prime Minister used to say about the value of sunlight, openness and transparency. It's time that these contracts be disclosed.
Mr. Chair, I'll leave my comments there.
I believe that Mr. Perkins is next. I look forward to hearing what he has to say.