—but I think it's very important that we do this in public because we are accountable to the public.
What is said in the dark, as it says in my old Bible, shall be exposed in the light.
They might have thought they were going to be able to pull this off in camera, where nobody could see them, but they miscalculated. We are now in a situation where we can debate this in public.
I'll go back to O'Brien and Bosc:
Unlike the Speaker, the Chair of a committee does not have the power to censure disorder or decide questions of privilege. Should a Member wish to raise a question of privilege in committee, or should some event occur in committee which appears to be a breach of privilege or contempt, the Chair of the committee will recognize the Member and hear the question of privilege, or in the case of some incident, suggest that the committee deal with the matter. The Chair, however, has no authority to rule that a breach of privilege or contempt has occurred. The role of the Chair in such instances is to determine whether the matter raised does in fact touch on privilege and is not a point of order, a grievance or a matter of debate. If the Chair is of the opinion that the Member's interjection deals with a point of order, a grievance or a matter of debate, or that the incident is within the powers of the committee to deal with, the Chair will rule accordingly—