Mr. Speaker, the Royal Canadian Mint lost $15 million in gold and silver in 2008. The RCMP and external accountants have confirmed that this was neither the result of theft nor an accounting error. According to an internal source and a private company quoted in the Globe and Mail, part of the missing 550 kilograms simply was lost in the refining process.
Since the refining process used by the Royal Canadian Mint has not changed much in the past few years, will the minister acknowledge that the Royal Canadian Mint has sent more than $15 million of gold and silver directly down the drain?