Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon from afar, dear colleagues.
I'd like to begin by thanking the Auditor General and her team, and I wish them a happy new year.
I'd like to raise a point that may be important for today's meeting. When the Auditor General's report was released, comments by the Minister of National Revenue contradicted the figures that had been developed, studied and then presented by the Auditor General.
I'd like to quickly reread what was said in the House.
Mr. Speaker, the CRA does not agree with the Auditor General's calculations concerning recipients who were not eligible for the wage subsidy. The CRA's actual audits indicate that compliance with the subsidies was high and that the Auditor General's figure is exaggerated. This is not the Auditor General's fault. We all know that she was pressured by the opposition to produce this report.
In this context, there are eligibility criteria. An agency, an effective government, is able to determine how many people have qualified for the subsidy and how many have not. This has been done elsewhere in the world. In the United States, they have been able to determine the number of people and the amount of the overpayment. This is also the case in the United Kingdom, where they have been able to estimate the number of people who had received overpayments. I find it absolutely incredible that we have two versions of history in Canada. The question here is quantitative, not qualitative, so there is no room for interpretation. The criteria are strict.
So my first question, Madam Auditor General, is this. How do you explain the fact that today, in January 2023, we still don't know how many people and businesses have been overpaid?