When I read your motion, Mr. Vandal, looking at the way it was written I thought that you were speaking of 10 meetings for hearing witnesses, gathering evidence, etc.—because I read it with the commas and semi-colons and stuff—and that then, once those 10 meetings are over, we would look at the drafting of the report and the tabling of the report in the House.
That's how I saw it fitting in. The problem we have is that we still have to finish a report that is extremely important. We discussed at our last meeting finishing our report and said that we hoped we could finish it today and tomorrow, but unless we agree to extended hours, I don't think we will.
Then we would move straight into this looking at scope, etc., which I didn't count, based on reading grammatically the commas and stuff, as being meant to be part of the hearing of the witnesses. I thought it was a “scope of” meeting thing that we always do. It could take one meeting; it could take one hour, if we're all in agreement with a lot of things and if the analyst—I'm putting him on the spot here—gives us the instructions he thinks we need to move across into this nicely.
Then we get 10 meetings, and I think the “as necessary extended hours” means that it may be that we say, instead of doing two meetings on a Tuesday and Thursday, that we'll do three hours' worth of meetings on a Tuesday and Thursday in order to fit in the kinds of things we need and then get this put away.
I really feel that we have had the patience of Job with some people like Mr. Van Loan and Mr. Vandal and a whole bunch of people who are waiting for now for almost—what?—six or seven months to even get into their studies.
I just would like to see us finish the work of this committee this year, and that means going into the fall. We talked again at the last meeting that going into the fall we would deal with all of our other studies and put everything to bed in the meantime.
Mr. Nantel.