Thank you, Mr. Chair.
This motion is in line with what was sent a few hours ago. In my opinion, one of the most important elements is missing, and that is transparency around accessing documents. If we want a study like this to go smoothly, I think we need access to documents. From what I understand, the issue for the government is what's in those documents.
Obviously, it's easy for me to ask what the government has to hide in those documents. We all remember the metaphors from the last meeting about the original motion, about how Bloc Québécois members were asking for truckloads of documents. When I asked what the largest items were, they said correspondence and emails, so I agreed to remove those from the original motion.
They're still telling me that there are way too many documents, so I'm starting to think the government is bluffing because it seems to me that we respond to their requests, but it's never enough. So again I have to ask: What does the government have to hide? I was prepared to remove something that it seemed to think was critical: PMO communications. I can understand that from a political standpoint.
About that, thanks to a reporter from a tech media outlet, we know that a message was sent from the President of the Treasury Board to the Prime Minister's Office in May 2022. The message was about Cúram missteps and what actions needed to be taken. To my knowledge, the Prime Minister took no action. I believe this type of question is clearly in the public interest, especially since this kind of important information has been downplayed. We all know the cost overruns add up to $5 billion. It went from $1.7 billion to $6.6 billion.
How interesting that I'm now being lectured on partisanship in committees and how difficult it is for them to function properly, when there's evidence that there has been filibustering here in our committee, in the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, and in many other committees. The government itself has engaged in filibustering. We're all aware of the current context. The government bought itself a majority with floor crossers, and that majority will come into effect this evening.
I'm going to ask my question again. What does the government have to hide, apart from its lack of accountability to the voters who gave it a minority mandate precisely so that we can perform our oversight role?
To me, downplaying what's going on right now is very dangerous. One of my still-unanswered questions is this: What about the tens of thousands of seniors who are still waiting? That is the crux of this issue, the computer system's mistakes. Not only is it very expensive, but it is also glitchy. Where are we at with it? Have any departments hidden, erased or covered up any data? I'm starting to wonder.
Instead of blaming employees for these screw-ups, as certain members did in question period, we might ask whether the instructions were properly communicated to the employees. Was it done properly in both official languages?
These questions remain unanswered. I'll stop there so nobody accuses me of filibustering.
