That's a matter of debate, but since we're now talking about the appointment process, I'll refer you to chapter 20 of Marleau and Montpetit, page 876. This is in reference to order in council appointees or nominees:
Questioning by members of the committee may be interrupted by the Chair, if it attempts to deal with matters considered irrelevant to the committee’s inquiry. Among the areas usually considered to be outside the scope of the committee’s study are the political affiliation of the appointee or nominee, contributions to political parties and the nature of the nomination process itself.
So the nomination process is outside of the committee's purview, according to Marleau and Montpetit.
That's in relation to appointments, but that's where we're headed, outside of where we're at in our study of the bill. That's some of the background on where we have to be careful in terms of where we go as committee.