Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I apologize to the witnesses, but before we hear their testimony, I think we should take a few minutes to look at the committee's schedule.
I have concerns because, the way things are going, I think we won't have enough time to meet our commitments and do the things we agreed on. I am especially concerned that we won't have enough time to complete the current study on freedom of expression since we have also received an order from the House regarding the “defunding” of the CBC.
So I would like us to take a few minutes to discuss that and decide on the topics for next week's meetings. I understand that we will be discussing the CBC/Radio‑Canada with Ms. Tait and Ms. Bouchard next week. The following week, we will not have much time left and we will have to have a number of meetings on the two studies. I think we should discuss this now because it is difficult to contact the witnesses for our study. In addition, we had to turn away a witness today for technical reasons. That will all probably cause a bottleneck at some point.
I want to make sure we can set aside the necessary time in the schedule for the study on freedom of expression and that we can also deliver the report on the CBC/Radio‑Canada on time, as instructed by the House.
The schedule for next week has already been decided in accordance with the availability of Ms. Tait and Ms. Bouchard, but for the following week, I think we could have two meetings of three hours each, on Monday and Wednesday. The clerk could clarify that. If so, we definitely have to devote at least one of those three-hour meetings, either on Monday or Wednesday, to the freedom of expression study. It is essential that we also make progress on that study, or else we will not be able to fulfill our commitment.