My first concern—and I'm sure all committee members are the same—is that there's also the preparation that goes into having witnesses. We need to have some time to consider what the witnesses have said, be able to absorb and react to it, and then have follow-up questions. Ramming it all in together in that way is problematic in the least. I would have real reservations about that.
It really begs the question of what we're doing. It is our position that Bill C-30 is largely a very redundant piece of legislation that isn't going to do much on the issue of climate change. If the intent is to move it through with enormous haste, essentially create a placebo policy, and pretend we did something--do it in a rush so we can pretend we did something and hold something out as this placebo that really does nothing....
We can't deal with this as an island. Either we're trying to do something about climate change or we're not. If we're trying to do something about climate change, what is the plan of the government? How does Bill C-30 fit in with the plan of the government? How can we deal with this issue as a one-off or as an isolated incident?
I appreciate, as we all do, that there is work to be done and we want to get results on this issue. I do not want to create something in haste that has no significance or meaning, or doesn't do anything. So if we're here to really achieve something, then let's do it. Let's first talk about what the plan of the government is, how Bill C-30 fits in with its broader agenda to address climate change, and then debate it in that context. But to deal with it alone is foolhardy.
On dealing with that number of witnesses, I don't know how we would have the time to properly prepare for those witnesses, assimilate what they say, and follow that up with additional witnesses. It's an extremely aggressive schedule, and it smacks to me of just trying to ram this through and not being interested in substantive changes that have to happen to make it effective.