Thanks, Chair.
Let's start off with the fact that there were 186 contracts, I believe, that were in conflict. At this point, it's about making sure that now that there's funding going back out again, there wasn't just a pause and then a restart of funding to the same 186 companies that had irregularities in their applications and in their contracts. This is about making sure that taxpayers are not once again continuing to fund people who don't deserve to get this money. That's what it comes down to.
This is about the accountability piece that I was talking to you about last week when we were debating a different motion. It should absolutely be in the interest of every member of Parliament, regardless of political stripe, to make sure that any company, regardless of which government is in power, isn't ripping off the taxpayer.
The fact is that it's $330 million on 186 contracts. That's where the counter is at with this particular fund since this government took over. If nothing has been done to remedy this and it's just going to continue on as it was before, then of course there are going to be substantive issues that this committee should be looking at and that every member should want to look at.
At the end of the day, it comes down to accountability. Has the minister been accountable to taxpayers to make sure that the adjustments have been made, to make sure that this process does not happen and that the companies that have already been found to be under a conflict aren't also continuing to get something when they shouldn't be getting it?
This is not about assaulting the mom-and-pop shop that might be looking to get in on something; this is about people who have connections, and they're using them to improperly further their own means.