I appreciate Matt's comment. We've worked out some of the timing with regard to how the committee would do the questioning so that it wouldn't take any time away from the MPs. For anyone concerned about losing a slot—I know that's sometimes a concern on the government bench—as a result of our proposal, in terms of timing, that wouldn't happen. We would have rounds, whether in a two-hour one-panel meeting or in a three-hour meeting with two panels, since sometimes committees take that form. We've done the math and made sure that everybody at the committee would also be heard.
I take Matt's point that there are consultations being undertaken by MPs in various stages. I suppose what's unique about this is the access to the quality of witnesses we're going to have, the privilege we have as members of Parliament to draw not just from across Canada but also from around the world.
One of the things we've struggled with on this particular issue is being able to broaden it and to have a greater number of Canadians understand the importance of what we're doing here, Mr. Chair. With the advent of social media technologies, as uncomfortable as being engaged this way around testimony might make some of our clerks, I don't actually have a concern about, as Matt raised, one person asking again and again. I don't think that would be hard to eliminate, simply because we would vary who gets to pose the questions that day, and the clerk would be in charge of that.
I just imagine us going around, each asking our questions. The witnesses will answer our questions, but Canadians have insights on this question that are completely different from those that we as members of Parliament have. They are asking from a completely different perspective, and the questions we would get from the public in that way would open up new veins of information and testimony that we have not considered before. It's innovative, I understand, and it might be a bit unusual.... It is unusual: we've never done something like this, but we've never had a committee like this. In the 149 years of our Parliament, we've never had a committee that looks like this, discussing the foundation of our Parliament.
I hear the suggestion about taking it to the subcommittee. I'd like us to really embrace this today as an opportunity, and to try it out. Let's put it this way: the first round here is with expert witnesses, Mr. Chair. That's what the committee has considered. Let's try it out. Let's give it a few meetings and see if there's uptake from the public. If the public is engaged and we're seeing a lot of action on Twitter and a lot of emails coming in, then we'll know it's working. I have no doubt in my mind that the quality and the breadth of the questions will be excellent, and I also think they'll be innovative. I think the public will be asking things that we didn't even consider.