Leader, the Auditor General of Canada has validated every concern that Senator Martin and I have raised with you about the sole-source contracts that your incompetent government gave to consultants at Accenture to run the Canada Emergency Business Account, or CEBA, loan program.

The government originally said, leader, that these contracts cost taxpayers $61 million. In May 2023, a delayed answer tabled in the Senate revealed Accenture received $208 million.

On Monday, leader, the Auditor General confirmed that the value of the 19 contracts, in fact, totals $313 million and counting.

Unbelievable.

Accenture decided the scope and price of their contracts. There was no oversight at all, leader.

Why do the NDP-Liberals have zero regard for taxpayers, and who gets fired over this, leader?

As I said — and I repeat — the program to which you refer and for which the contracts were awarded was a program that helped 900,000 businesses survive throughout the pandemic in order to keep their employees on the payroll and, therefore, keep families afloat.

The information that has come to light is of great concern. As I mentioned in a recent answer, I believe, Export Development Canada, or EDC, which operates independently of this government, was the one that awarded this contract.

The concerns of the minister have been raised directly with the president of EDC in this respect.

There’s no concern — zero concern. It’s incompetence.

Leader, you told Senator Martin yesterday that your government, in fact, appreciates the work of the Auditor General, yet they — and you — have the nerve to disagree with some of her recommendations to protect taxpayers.

It is not worth the cost, leader. How do you square that, leader? Isn’t this fiasco just another reason why the NDP-Liberals have to go?

The answer is “no.” The Auditor General has an important job to do, which is to assess the performance of programs against the stated policy grounds.

The government has an important job to do, which is to adapt its programs to the necessities of the time. There were 900,000 businesses, their workers and families that were saved.

With regard to the issues raised by the Auditor General, they have been raised by the Minister of Finance with the head of EDC.