It would certainly be a bizarre situation that we spent the taxpayers' money to fly to Edmonton and then nobody showed up. I don't think that's ever happened on any committee I've ever been aware of. The motion seems to be a little contradictory. In the first place, it says we can have a reduced quorum with one member of the opposition, and then it says we can hear witnesses without any members of the opposition present. If we want to get this through, we would say that we'll wait 15 minutes provided there's at least a member of the government and a member of the opposition. That would certainly establish that this is about us getting down to the business of hearing our witnesses. If people haven't bothered to show up, that's something they have to be held accountable for on their own. But if we just say a member of the government and a member of the opposition, then we're fine with that.
On June 21st, 2011. See this statement in context.