The performance audits are meat and potatoes. That's what we do and that's the main accountability of government. This is the premier oversight committee of Parliament. The one thing in my opinion that we cannot stand, and I don't care who the government is, is cutting the Auditor General. That's what autocrats do when they want to deny accountability. I'm hoping that we take this very seriously and that whatever action we decide is by majority, unanimous vote, to send a clear signal that regardless of whether we're a government member or not, when we walk into this room we are different and we are oversight. We have a responsibility to our colleagues and, to me, this is about as big as it gets.
This is right in there with the department saying, “No, we're not giving you information. We refuse.” Oh yeah? Well, we have legislation that says you can't refuse, but the funding is our responsibility collectively and this is not acceptable. I would hope that we would begin turning the wheels necessary to undo this, because just to be political for a moment, this government already has a bit of a deficiency on the democratic front. Here is yet one more knock against the professed belief and adherence to democracy and democratic values.
Chair, I am beside myself. This is not acceptable. I'm not going to raise any other issues because to me.... I have a couple of questions, but they pale in comparison to the question of whether....
Some of us do this work internationally. You've travelled internationally. Vice-Chair Mendès has travelled internationally. This is the kind of stuff where we say, ”Holy smokes, are you kidding me? Is that how your accountability system works?” Then we're so thankful that we live in Canada where that kind of thing doesn't happen. Well, this is exactly that and it's not acceptable that any government cuts the money of the Auditor General, which is the main accountability of government in this Parliament, period, full stop. I can only hope, Chair, that colleagues are in agreement and that we agree on a course of action, whatever that is, to send a signal to the government that this is not acceptable from an oversight point of view.
I'm good.