Mr. Chair, as I made clear at the beginning, I prefer that we rely on the work of the Auditor General. I hate redundancy, and I think others here feel the same way. We should manage our time effectively. We do have work to do.
Personally, I would tend to stick to the committee's mandate, consider the fact that there was no precedent for looking at contracts in their original form, and rely on the work of the Auditor General. That was my position.
My colleague is arguing that when committee members want to see contracts, is important to find ways to make that possible. The amendment being proposed constitutes one of those ways. It says that we still have to respect the fact that... It's not just up to us. It's not the type of document that would contain a policy developed by the government itself.
We are talking about documents that have an impact on the market. There is a way to communicate with stakeholders. It is actually quite normal to communicate with them. I have seen this before in other committees, for example, when a witness's testimony is sensitive or when the topics include sensitive issues. We have to find ways to do it properly and respectfully. I am thinking in particular of the public officials who have done this type of work, who are bound by confidentiality and may therefore be penalized for not fully complying with some of the terms and conditions of these contracts.
In his amendment, my colleague suggests a way of doing things. If someone wanted to propose a subamendment, I think there is some openness here and an opportunity to do so. For my part, given my preference, I can water things down a bit and say that I am here to work with all other committee members. I do believe in the importance of this committee and that we should reach consensus when we do these studies.
On that note, Mr. Chair, I will conclude my remarks.