Thank you, Chair.
First of all, I did follow procedure through and through. I talked to our only Frenchman, the Bloc member, before I came forward, to make sure he was comfortable that I was doing it in one language, the reason being that the motion came out of this meeting. It was not something that was prepared last night or this morning; it was actually prepared and handwritten to the clerk.
The reason we're asking for it is very clear. We just feel we didn't have enough time with what we heard today. This would be a good opportunity for the Auditor General, if he or she so chooses, to look at this. Every once in a while, the Auditor General will ask the members of Parliament about different departments or Crown corporations that they should actually do an audit on, so this is not out of the norm by any means. In fact, if the Auditor General chooses not to, that's up to her. She has full independence, but this is something the committee can request. I think it would be good for both the department and the committee to have that type of audit done. I think it's good value for taxpayers to understand what they're doing well, what they're doing wrong and what they can do better, because I remember that whenever an auditor general reports, you'll see recommendations; and most departments will take on those recommendations and make improvements to the department. This is with the intent of making a stronger department and making things more efficient for taxpayers.
I think a lot of people would criticize us if we didn't do this, because we had one only day to go through the estimates and that's the process that we follow on the estimates. It's a goofy process that Canadians don't understand, and even here, when you look at it, you wonder how in the heck we can approve so much money with one hour's notice.
In this situation, I think it would be prudent to have the Auditor General's office, if it so chooses, just take a quick peek at it.