Mr. Komarnicki mentioned that I said we would deal with this after we dealt with some other stuff, which we have done. I don't think there's a member of the committee who has been more amenable to having their motions dealt with in time, as opposed to immediately. I don't ask that everything be done right away. I have a motion that goes back to September on the very important issue of student debt limits. The Canadian government has now had to increase the ceiling--the maximum student debt limit. That's an important issue too. But I recognize...and that's why I want to have a subcommittee on people with disabilities again, because there is so much work to be done.
But this issue is particularly important. He mentioned we could harangue the minister. The minister was harangued, and unless we're going to get a less haranguable minister, we need to make sure that these things are not happening in other areas as well, that it's not happening in other seniors benefits, or in other benefits that affect people with disabilities. This isn't just about that one issue.
He suggests the policy didn't change, but something changed. The minister admitted something changed. And it affected an awful lot of Canadians. An awful lot of the poorest, most vulnerable Canadians are seniors who rely on GIS, who don't have a whole lot else, who rely on this department and the good people who are in it to make the decisions that will serve them well.
It's our job--it's our fiduciary responsibility, I would argue, as the committee that oversees that minister and that department--to find out what happened. If it is all done and if we get assurances it can't happen again, that's fine. But it's not good enough to just say it happened once and won't happen again. This is a big department, there are a lot of people depending on it, and I think we need to do our job to provide oversight.
