Sorry. Unfortunately, I pressed the wrong button. I don't know why there are two buttons to mute the microphone.
I was saying that if I were not to support this motion, it would be against my will. If I don't get an opportunity to examine it properly or to put forward amendments, then I'd be forced to vote against the motion. But that's not what I want to do.
I'd prefer to continue with our laudable habitual practice, which is to check our partisan interests at the door—a virtual door in this instance—when we come to a committee meeting. Under your stewardship, Madam Chair, I think that we have succeeded over the past six months to accomplish something that's rare on Parliament Hill. That's one of the reasons why I'd like to be able to think about the motion. Would we be able to pause for a few minutes, Madam Chair. I believe you mentioned at the beginning of the meeting that we would deal with routine proceedings towards the end of the meeting. I may be wrong, but that's what I had understood. I believe this is very important.
This motion appears to be the outcome of rather cursory consideration, with Mr. Berthold arguing that the Auditor General of Canada was officially prevented from receiving information about the development of the Canada emergency wage subsidy. If my colleague Mr. Berthold would like the Auditor General to appear before this committee to give evidence on the subject, that would be entirely reasonable, in my view. However, I don't think that it's desirable to presume anything about these facts without first having called the question. I don't think this really reflects my colleague's intent, but I'll give him the opportunity to tell us.
As we all know, the Financial Administration Act gives the Auditor General the authority to obtain any information required to conduct this kind of audit. If, however, Mr. Berthold has concerns about the effectiveness of the Canada emergency wage subsidy, I believe the appropriate place to raise the matter is not our committee, because what we're doing here is assessing program implementation, but rather the Standing Committee on Finance, which could debate the policies that govern matters like these. Unless I'm mistaken, neither Mr. Berthold nor his colleagues have raised any concerns of this kind since I've been sitting on this committee.
You know full well that this wage subsidy gave support to more than 5.3 million employees across this great country. We know that it cost approximately $71 billion. Now if people don't agree that the employment relationship should be maintained—by which I mean keeping employees on staff at companies across Canada—and would prefer to take on staff in a period of austerity, then they should come out and say so. However, allow me to repeat that the Standing Committee on Public Accounts is not necessarily the appropriate committee to address these issues, but rather the Standing Committee on Finance.
I trust that my colleague will be able to address these concerns soon. If so, I will listen attentively so that I can better understand his point of view.
Thank you, Madam Chair.