Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
I greet all my colleagues, and wish a happy new year to those I have not spoken with yet.
I will try to be as brief as possible, because many of us were pulled from important start-of-year meetings to attend this one.
I want to remind all my colleagues that protecting whistleblowers is a subject that we at the Bloc Québécois consider very important. In fact, that’s why my colleague for Mirabel is the sponsor of the bill on protecting whistleblowers.
I will now come back to Mr. Genuis’s motion. Let me be very clear: if documents, evidence or other information reveal serious wrongdoing on the part of the government, I urge my colleagues to provide those documents to the Office of the Auditor General. I also thank Mr. Hayes for being here today. It’s important for him to have all the documents in hand to produce his report. Then, it will be important to continue the study on ArriveCAN.
However, I find this meeting to be premature, as is the motion currently on the table. It’s necessary to get the Office of the Auditor General’s take on this and wait for what it has to tell us before resuming our work. My party and I are here to move the file forward and to protect whistleblowers by questioning witnesses and government representatives. However, at this point, taking into account the documents we have and the information provided to us, it would be premature to report anything at all to the House, especially since the Auditor General will table her report in about two weeks. Let’s wait and be diligent. I urge my colleagues to do so.
Our committee is important, and we will make sure the government is accountable for its actions. You can count on me for that. If there was any wrongdoing, we will call attention to it and possibly report it back to the House. This motion could be debated again later if necessary, but at this stage, it is premature.
I therefore ask my colleagues to proceed with the vote. I think everyone has had their say on the matter. Out of respect for Mr. Hayes, we have to vote on Mr. Genuis’s motion. Then, if members still have questions for him, they may ask them, but I think my colleagues asked all their questions.
Let’s be serious, let’s be reasonable and let’s act accordingly.