Mr. Chair, that amounts to voting against our amendment. We know how things works, we weren't born yesterday. My colleague wasn't born yesterday either. We know very well that once a decision is made here, there is little likelihood that it will be changed later. We are willingly entrusting others with a task that we have refused to take on. I'm amazed at how easily Mr. Komarnicki is willing to accept this, given that he refused to hear from... He says that this could even be his own actuary. It's not our actuary, Mr. Chair. He's an expert. He spoke out because he felt it made no sense. He is not our own actuary. We suggested that he appear as a witness, he was here, but the committee refused to hear him. Now, it has been suggested that we adopt this and then see. Come on, Mr. Chair. This is supposed to be serious business!
We are entrusting someone else with a task that we should be taking on ourselves. We could have devoted a good half-hour to this task. We could have heard from Mr. Bédard and then, we could have done our job quickly and avoided all of these discussions. But we choose to get into a debate because they never want to accept an opposing view. They never want to accept an opposing view before decisions are made. We don't agree with the suggestion that someone can tell us after the fact that we should have come to a different decision.We are, of course, civilized people and we will welcome them and listen to what they have to say, but what will be the point of that, Mr. Chair?
Now is when the work is being done. I'd like someone to explain something to me. I'm not trying to be disagreeable, but we all have a responsibility and I totally respect the individual efforts that are being made. Mr. Savage clearly described the efforts he was making earlier. When the opportunity presents itself to have some light shed on the situation, how can we possibly turn it down, unless perhaps there is some malicious intent involved? We brought him here and there is still time to hear from him. Unfortunately, I'm sure our request will again be denied. He is still here. We have wasted about one hour because we refused to hear from him. I am convinced that once the committee has heard what he has to say, the majority of the members will vote in favour of my amendment. I don't think the Conservatives will support it. It says a lot about costs. We do not agree with bringing in an actuary after the fact. We will listen to what he has to say, because we're polite, but we don't think it will serve any purpose.