I firmly believe that it is within the purview of this committee, for the basic reason that the finance committee is going to be looking after the $250 billion. No committee is touching the $3 billion.
The problem is that the government, when it was asked to present this, said it is under cabinet confidentiality. The money belongs to the taxpayers of Canada, not to the Conservative government.
I think it is important that we be circumspect, because the situation is unprecedented. The $3 billion that was demanded was there during the economic crisis to create jobs. All we are asking is whether in three months, if the money is not utilized, it will go into the consolidated revenue fund; give us an analysis of the drawdown. We're asking very simple questions, and I think it behooves the members of public accounts to be accountable. It behooves the government to be transparent. The Conservative government cannot say in one sentence “We are conservatives, and we believe that taxpayers' money must always be spent in an accountable, ethical, and transparent manner”, when we do not even know whether the jobs have been created or not, or whether the aggregate money has been drawn down.
Mr. Chair, as the public accounts committee, we have a mandate to ensure transparency and accountability of utilization, especially in this unprecedented economic environment.