Thank you very much, Chair, for clarifying that.
I voted to move the meeting in camera so we could have straightforward discussions about this and frank comments, but it's not going to stop me now that we are in public.
This committee is a highly non-partisan committee. We were able to do that, in my mind, because we studied the Auditor General's report. She is non-partisan and has already formed an opinion and done her investigation very professionally. She is not taking any sides. That's how the system is built, and that's how Canadians trust this institution.
To say that we got her report and that we agree with her but we want to understand how she came to that conclusion and we want to agree with her more doesn't make any sense to me. She wasn't praising the government. She had criticisms about bits and pieces throughout, and that's how she formed her recommendations.
When we are talking about sensitive information like a contract that the government signed with vaccine companies—and there are only a few proponents out there—we know very well that, going forward, we still have to deal with these proponents on the procurement side. Now, all of a sudden, to breach the contract and open it up for us to take a look, and everything is in public.... I don't believe for one second that what we discuss even in camera does not make its way to public. There are so many examples I could use of discussions we've had at the committee level, maybe not in camera, that get mentioned in question period.
We're politicians. It's very easy for us to look at something, see it from a different perspective and use it in a partisan way. That's our job. To critique the government is our job. I understand that, but when it comes to running the risk of opening something that is confidential, that the proponents signed confidentially with the government.... That contract has been looked at and reported on by an independent officer of Parliament, the Auditor General, and we still want to say let's open it up, let's take a look. We're over the line.
Of course, I support my colleague Peter's comment that if you want to look at the procurement details, this is not the committee. This is the committee to look at the AG's report.
Thank you, Chair.