Paragraph 5.47 in the report says:
This finding is important because in the absence of detailed information on the use of the funds, Industry Canada does not know to what extent the federal government’s financial assistance contributed to the viability of Chrysler Canada and GM Canada.
The fact that they didn't seem to be able to track it as well as they wanted to, albeit it was convoluted.... I agree with Mr. Carmichael because I was actually in the last Parliament and I remember it well. It was a hectic period and things needed to go very quickly, and I can say the government and the opposition were in agreement and we needed to find a way to do this quickly. There were a lot of jobs at stake and a big chunk of the economy.
This is an after piece rather than a before piece, if I can put it that way. One ought to know at the end of the things what happened and how to track it. At the front end there may have been some weaknesses but that was probably because of expediency and the rush to get it done.
In your sense, is Industry Canada satisfied that it really knows what happens and is it able to ascertain.... Because if it ever got in this place again, would it do it in a similar fashion or not? I realize that's an opinion piece from me. You may not actually want to answer that.