I am sorry, but I cannot agree with Senator Harder's proposal. We asked for an index in both languages in order to select documents. We just received it, so let's continue our work. Let's name the documents that, at first glance, appear to be relevant. It's already an exercise in compromise, the nature of which Mr. Fortin has clearly explained. That is a reasonable position. Obviously, there are some documents that are very relevant. I have one in front of me, on page 164, where it says “February 19, Situation Report.” It was only a few days after the emergency measures were implemented. It's a status report on that day. There are reports for every day.
Our mandate is to examine how the emergency measures were enforced. There are daily situational reports available, but we're saying that we don't even want to look at them, that we're going to write a report and we're going to look at the documents over the summer. I can't wait to see what some people will bring to the beach as reading material in the summer, but it won't be evidentiary files. Then we will hold another meeting in the fall and say that, in the end, the evidence did not change anything.
I object to that scenario. Let's do the job right: Let's identify the evidence that needs to be translated and let's study it. After that, we will write up our report. Let's use the time we have and hold a few meetings between now and the summer break to get the evidence and take the necessary steps to ensure that our communications with the Privy Council Office and the Translation Bureau enable us to get the documents we need in as timely a manner as possible. Let's do things right.
I'm more optimistic than Senator Harder. I think that, come the fall, we will be able to finalize our report.