Thank you, Chair.
I didn't think I would have to use some of my five minutes to educate some Liberal members on your particular role as an Auditor General. You're not a criminal investigator. You've never been set up as a criminal investigator. Your ability to detect potential fraud, or other acts of criminality, in relation to what has transpired under the SDTC is not your mandate, just like the Ethics Commissioner. If it's blatant, if there's an abundance of evidence, as you have indicated, you can make that referral.
The fact of the matter remains, despite the best efforts of Mr. Erskine-Smith, that the RCMP have confirmed that there is an ongoing investigation. Whether or not they ask for a production order from your office remains to be seen, but the fact that they haven't doesn't necessarily mean that they won't. I think that's the message that needs to come through to Canadians watching this. It's an ongoing investigation.
They have also confirmed that they have received documents from the House of Commons in relation to the House order, but they have been heavily redacted, which is precisely why the government and the House of Commons have come to this gridlock. It's because of the government's failure to produce all unredacted documents to the House, which can then be used by the RCMP as they see fit. Whether they look at it or not, that's entirely up to them.
In relation to the potential criminality here, Madam Auditor General, I want to remind Canadians that we're talking about potential fraud and breach of trust. Fraud is defined in the Criminal Code under section 380 as follows:
Every one who, by deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means, whether or not it is a false pretence...defrauds the public or any person...of any property, money or valuable security....
They are guilty of an indictable offence, depending on the value.
Redirecting taxpayer funds to the tune of almost $400 million outside of contribution agreements, outside of the law, is in its very nature a fraudulent act. Whether or not the Crown can produce and establish intent remains to be seen, but the police will investigate at a lower standard than the Crown prosecutor who prosecutes potential fraudulent actors in relation to this scam.
Let's not forget that the Assistant Deputy Minister McConnachie equated this to simply giving away free money. It was the equivalent of a sponsorship-type scandal. That is how massive this scam, this fraud, this crisis, this issue is that is now bogging down the government operations in the House. To ask you one final question, all of this could go away if the government simply complies with the order of the House and releases all the documents pursuant to that order.
Would you agree with that, Madam Auditor General?