Concerning the second motion, I used what happened with the Royal LePage contract as an example. The Standing Committee on Public Accounts had asked to receive more information on how that contract was awarded.
The GENS contract process has not yet begun, to respond to the concerns of Mr. Young, who feared that we would be stepping in at a time when promises were being made to an individual or a company. Currently, they are no more than proposals and drafts. We asked industry representatives for comments. Thus, we are not interfering in a contract-awarding process. I think that we can intervene before this occurs, and I used what the committee did in the Royal LePage case as an example. We reached certain conclusions because we could see that there were things that had happened that were out of line.
When I saw the contract posted on MERX, I read all of the sections. In terms of the organization of professional services, equipment purchase services and project management, there are weaknesses.
Unless my motion is amended so as to be sent back to the Auditor General so that she can make recommendations to us, I do not see how, as the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, we can ignore something as significant as $15 billion. This is a 15-year contract, that is, 8 years plus a 7-year renewal. We cannot ignore such a substantial sum, especially when we have no information on the ability of Public Works and Government Services Canada to properly manage this contract.