Madam Speaker, my Conservative colleague has asked an excellent question. That is one reason why it is so important for the Auditor General to have access to the foundation's figures.
If the government is as transparent as it says it is, if it has the interests of the people of Canada and Quebec at heart as it says it does, if the money involved is managed well by the foundations as it says it is, I do not understand the logic of not allowing the Auditor General to confirm what the government says. It would be quite proper and normal.
As I was saying earlier, there is a basic principle of democracy at stake. This money has been collected by the government but does not directly belong to it; this money belongs to the workers of Canada and Quebec, because it has been taken out of their pockets for the public good.
It would, therefore, be a matter of course for us as parliamentarians to get the correct information. The person who can give it to us is independent of the government and reports to Parliament. This person, in the current system, is the Auditor General.
It is healthy and normal for questions to be raised. I shall briefly suggest a few.
For example, the Canada Foundation for Innovation began receiving funding in 1997. It has received $3.651 billion. After nearly eight years, it has only given grants totalling $1.23 billion. What did the government gain by putting nearly $3.5 billion into it, when nearly eight years later, just over $1 billion has been paid out in grants? Moreover, we see that $39 million of that has been spent on administration.
These are questions that all of us as parliamentarians are entitled to ask, since our constituents ask us the same questions. The person who can provide answers in this situation is the Auditor General.