Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We come to public accounts to question, to provide oversight for taxpayers' dollars and to check for value for money and whether or not it achieved value. Members have privileges here. One privilege is that, when you come into these hearings, you're not here to evade. You're here to answer questions—important questions.
At first glance, 186 conflicts of interest were found by the Auditor General. The taxpayers deserve clarity, accountability and the oversight that we provide. It's deeply disappointing and alarming that Liberal government members—the committee members here—simply don't want to find the truth for Canadians.
There are no points for evading questions at a hearing such as this. This brings us precisely to the moment we're at. Mr. Bains knows the political process, what is acceptable and what is not, and what it means to be held accountable and to be transparent with taxpayers' dollars. He has to be held to a higher standard: He was a cabinet minister. He told the president of SDTC that they will manage her conflicts when they appointed her the chair.
Though he's not a politician today, there are no points for evading or refusing to answer the questions posed by committee members. He is, however, accountable for his time in office. He was, is and will always be a member of the Privy Council, forever bound by those rules, and $400 million is a lot of money—