It was agreed by everyone around the table that we would submit our witness list by Friday, if folks are intent on meeting next week.
Now, I am sensitive to what Mr. Harris is saying. The Liberals members across the table knew to book the days of next week off because they had a caucus scheduled, so they didn't make commitments in their ridings. I know I personally am scheduled to make a presentation before city council, for example, on September 2. I am a member of this committee, and I have a number of other commitments that I'd made on the second. I have commitments on the third; I have commitments on the fourth. These are all commitments I've made in my riding.
I would suggest it's certainly reasonable to look to the middle of next week, if members are so intent that this is so important. As I said, I think we have a great story to tell, and I'm happy both to talk about what the government's investments have been and to look forward to what the benefits of those investments will yield in the future. I'm happy to do that. If we want to look toward the middle of next week, as I said, I am sympathetic to Mr. Harris. We've had an awful lot of committee meetings here this summer—I've been a part of many of them—and I do think it's a bit of an imposition on members to ask them to come here.
I was actually going to suggest, Mr. Chair, that you might look at a date somewhere between the second and fourth, or the second to the fourth, recognizing of course that there would be logistical difficulties, frankly, getting a list in and getting people here through a long weekend. The cost of getting people here through a long weekend and the cost of staying in hotels on a long weekend is more. I think we should look at how quickly we can pull it together.
Listen, if Mr. Dion could even find time to make a phone call to the Prime Minister, these guys might not be panicking so much, but apparently his time is precious and our time is not. That said, as I said, we have nothing to hide, but I think the chair should be given the latitude, if it's next week, to set dates that logistically work for the people who we're looking to have here.