Madam Speaker, the member always gets good marks on style, but I want to comment on the substance. The reality is that the supplementary estimates (B) are the final adjustments as a result of labour negotiations and settlements.
Indeed, on this particular Thursday, here we are talking about how the supplementary estimates (B) have to be reported by the following Thursday morning, which means, since we only meet twice a week, that we only have one more scheduled day of meetings. But this is a Thursday. We also had Friday. We also had Monday. We had Tuesday and Wednesday to hold meetings if we had wanted to.
If the members would just check the transcripts of the meeting, which are public and on the web, they will see that the committee members said, “Why do we not just have everybody review it on their own, and if they have any concerns, they can bring them to the committee on our Tuesday meeting? If there are any questions by any member, we will call the necessary witnesses on the Wednesday and still be able to report Thursday”.
How many members of the government operations and estimates committee came to that meeting having reviewed the supplementary estimates (B) to say that they had a problem and they wanted witnesses because they did not understand something and they needed to have answers to certain questions? None.
Perhaps the member doth protest too much. As a matter of fact, I want to suggest to him that only 3 out of 20 standing committees reported back the supplementary estimates (B). It gets even worse if we look back at the main estimates, which were reported November 30. Only 9 out of 20 standing committees even reviewed the main estimates, where the big decisions are made and the big money is approved.
When we put this in the context that every standing committee of the House of Commons has a majority of opposition members and this is what is going on, we have to understand that the problem is not so much a government trying to stop somebody from looking at the estimates; it is in fact the committee system, which has become dysfunctional and has ignored virtually half of its job, that is, to do appropriate review. We have more systemic problems.
I would like to ask the member if, as a starting point when members of Parliament come to this place, the House of Commons should offer an orientation program on an appropriate review of estimates, and also do periodic updates and training so that members of Parliament can anticipate the dates on which things happen and can start working in advance of the tabling of estimates.