Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'll confess to having some of the same surprise Mr. Savard-Tremblay mentioned regarding how the study of Bill C-282 has unfolded. Given specifically the fact that all officially recognized parties in the chamber voted in favour of this bill at second reading, I've been a bit surprised at some of the obstruction and delay tactics that His Majesty's official opposition has used, including filibustering this bill at our very committee.
I think the motion itself is well received by all parties. It should be well received by all parties that actually want to conclude this study and ensure the bill gets returned to the House of Commons so that it can in fact be passed in the chamber. I think the appropriate compromise that Mr. Savard-Tremblay has struck here is articulated in the text of the motion.
To make it extremely clear, what I would suggest is that where the motion reads, “that the Committee allocate a maximum of four consecutive hours, divided into no more than two meetings”, I would insert a phrase, right after the comma, so it would say, “divided into no more than two meetings, one of which will include hearing from witnesses, to complete the said study”. Then it would just continue. This makes it abundantly clear to my Conservative colleagues that we are in agreement with them that additional witness evidence should be heard. A determination can be made as to what kind of witnesses those should be, apropos of what Mr. Savard-Tremblay has just mentioned.
In the spirit of compromise, we can hopefully work together as a committee, ideally unanimously, to complete the study with these two meetings, one of which would be with witnesses and the second of which would be for clause-by-clause. Then we would report the bill back to the House. I think that's what any defender of supply management, including His Majesty's official opposition, ought to do in this case.
Thank you, Madam Chair.