Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
The Bloc Québécois signed the letter requesting a meeting pursuant to Standing Order 106(4), but we weren't aware of the notice of motion introduced pursuant to Standing Order 108(1).
The $150 million that was given to Medicago is under quite a mysterious heading in the Public Accounts of Canada. When I myself asked a question about this at a previous meeting, I was told that it was considered an accident. My questions are somewhat similar to those of all my colleagues, because we need to get answers. Is the Standing Committee on Health the best place to get those answers? That's a good question.
I will digress for a moment to talk about women's health. There are 700 diseases affecting women that are misdiagnosed because there have been no or few studies on women's morphology and women's health. I have family members right now who are fighting breast cancer. I think it would be worthwhile to know the source of this cancer and how to better prevent it. You have to have a doctor first, and I don't have one. I'm not the only one in society who has that problem.
Let's go back to Medicago. There are questions about the circumstances, the guarantees and the process that was followed. Why was that process used? If Mitsubishi had not abandoned Medicago, would we be talking about it now, or would we simply accept the fact that investments were made to increase Canada's vaccine procurement capacity? I don't have the answer to that. Did Canada take a risk that it shouldn't have taken? I don't have the answer to that. Did the fact that Canada is sometimes asked to show more flexibility with a private company lead us to want to conduct this study? I don't have the answer to that.
What was the $150 million used for? Research and development costs a fortune. Was that money used for that? Was the $150 million used, for example, to try to speed up the construction of the production plant that was planned in Quebec City? I don't have the answer to that. It's the least we can do to get answers about what was done with the money that taxpayers entrusted to the government.
As far as the amendment and the subamendment are concerned, it always bothers me to hear that we can consult documents, but not talk about them. It's all well and good to have the truth, but if we can't reveal it, we can't reassure taxpayers, which is always of great concern to me. Whether the truth is good or bad, whether everyone likes it or not, is another debate. It's important to me that taxpayers know what is being done with their money, these taxes that we also pay.
So a lot of questions need to be answered. Is the Standing Committee on Health the best committee to do that? Since we've been talking from the outset about revelations in the Public Accounts of Canada, should the motion be referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts? Do we need to think about our own procedures as well? I'm throwing all these questions out and thinking out loud, without any filters.
Mr. Chair, if the amendment were to pass, would it necessarily mean that members would not be allowed to discuss what they read in public?