Mr. Barsalou‑Duval made it clear that he didn't want the recommendation we put on the table about moving forward without the production of documents.
Mr. Barsalou‑Duval simply said to take out a part. He would be prepared to take out the part about documents concerning the public service as a whole and keep only documents from cabinet. Those documents go back and forth. It's about activating the public service backward instead of forward.
All we wanted was to put forward a very reasonable amendment. We proposed that the committee hold two meetings with all the witnesses on the list. We also proposed that witnesses be given the choice to appear in camera or in public. That's all we wanted. We let a lot of other things go.
As such, this is directly related to our discussion.
What we didn't want was to mobilize the public service in some way, to exploit victims, to play political games at the expense of bereaved families by exploiting personal tragedies. That's all.
People are exerting artificial pressure on Canada. This coalition is a political stunt that is completely at odds with our objective. People are striving for political visibility. They want to make Liberals look like bad guys who don't want to produce documents and don't want witnesses to speak.
Just listen to what people have been saying since the start. It was extremely clear again today. We very simply and reasonably recommended meeting with victims and respecting their dignity by giving them a choice.
Some witnesses were clear, however. They talked to us about respect. They gave us the straight goods on everything that has been said and the whole Driver Inc. issue. They talked to us about driver's licences and inspections.
That even gave me an opportunity to go and see what a truck inspection is all about. I don't have my class 3 now, but I used to have it. From what I remember, it's the same responsibility whether it's class 3 or class 1. Every driver has to go over their truck, inspect, test the brakes, check the tires, do a visual. That takes time.
The witnesses told us that all of that was being ignored and that people were hitting the road in uninspected trucks. There is proof that training is sorely lacking.
The examples I just gave you all fall under provincial jurisdiction.
We can adopt recommendations that will enable us to work with the provinces, but what we need to do today is focus on our own jurisdiction and consider the amendment I proposed earlier.
What the federal government can do is provide better support for self-employed workers and strengthen oversight over money owing and tax evasion.
We can harmonize interprovincial rules. We have a role to play. Our Prime Minister is very active on interprovincial and territorial trade as well as international trade. Why not include a recommendation about harmonization, starting with provincial regulations, so everyone can be on the same page?
The regulations can cover licences or defective trucks from another province. Just because your truck leaves one province and goes to another doesn't mean it's fixed. The inspection doesn't follow the truck. It stays in the records of the province where it was done. Failure to comply in one province cannot be recognized as failure to comply in another.
That would suit me. I'm happy to work with my colleagues to make recommendations. The important thing is to improve interprovincial inspections. We can really make a difference on that.
We can ramp up Canada Revenue Agency audits. We've already started. Money has already been invested, and we've allocated millions more in the budget. I don't know if my colleagues have taken a peek at the budget, but we should consider what the minister said about how there might be some good issues to bring to the table. We invested money in addressing Driver Inc. The problem had to be solved at the Canada Revenue Agency, so public service employees have been tasked with solving the problem. They haven't been tasked with drafting documents; they've been tasked with rooting out tax evasion in connection with Driver Inc.