Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the minister if the use of agents with regard to sponsorship programs—known agents such as Groupaction, Groupe Everest, Media IDA Vision and these nine firms that are friends of the Liberal Party—does not cost taxpayers more money than if these functions were performed by public servants employed by the government.
Would that not take away at least the appearance of a conflict of interest? Most of these agents make generous donations to the Liberal Party of Canada and the fees they charge are exorbitant. They try to bite off more than they can chew. This is my first question to the minister, but I have many more.