I will continue and then pass my time on to the honourable member from Scarborough.
I look at this request as very, very circumspect. I respect Mr. Berthold as a colleague and a friend on many levels. In terms of the path we are on in this committee, this is a non-partisan committee. There are other ways of asking. We can put forward a request for the Auditor General to appear to ensure her office was given the resources to undertake studies. I'm sure my colleagues will want to follow up on that.
I'm just very disappointed. I go back to Mr. Christopherson's wise words a few months ago about how this committee should operate. I think the idea that we should just request from cabinet all the time all documents that cabinet has discussed—just because we feel we need to and want to, for whatever purposes—is a path that makes me become very queasy. I question why we're going that way.
This is not in a political manner. There's no political-speak in what I'm saying; it's just honestly how we as parliamentarians conduct ourselves on this public accounts committee.
Mr. Berthold, I respect your desire to put forward this motion. I don't agree with it and I will say that respectfully, but also I have a large degree of respect for the AG and the work they have done. If the Auditor General wanted to put in their reports that they felt they were being constrained with regard to the documents they received or by anything to that extent, then I'm sure that would have appeared in the report.
There is a follow-up report that will come to the members of Parliament in terms of the economic evaluation of the program. It is a $100-billion program. I agree that it is a very large program. It is a very important program for employers and employees throughout this country, and I am fully cognizant of that. I am very disappointed that other members on this committee were not afforded the time today to ask a question of our witnesses—our guests—be it Mr. Sabia or the commissioner from the CRA. That's what they were here for: to answer those questions.
I think there were other avenues to pursue in terms of asking the Auditor General about the resources that her office was able to receive in conducting this study.
I will hand my time over to Ms. Yip, who I believe is next.
Thank you, Chair.
To my honourable colleague, Mr. Berthold, my words were not in any way an attack on you, but these are my feelings on the motion that was presented.
Thank you.