The fact is it's now 91 days since the Treasury Board minister had an excuse, or an explanation, for the fact the Auditor General was misled. Now they're setting the turf and are going to go after the big, bad NDP. Hey, that's fine, because when it comes to Elections Canada, we follow the rules. We meet with Elections Canada, so we certainly aren't afraid to talk with them, unlike my colleagues whose party and all of its key leaders are up on charges. Their election planners are up on charges for having broken the rules, and that's still before the courts. So let's not turn this into a chance for a bully pulpit here and my colleagues to start misrepresenting the facts.
Chair, I think it's unfortunate that you were overruled. You made the correct decision; it should be at another committee. But they're going to do what they're going to do, so let's just get it done. Let's bring witnesses. We'll have witnesses to bring forward. We'll have to sit down and have a planning meeting on witnesses. I suppose we're still doing that, or is the majority going to say, “No more witnesses, we're going to start giving you the list”? But I'd like to think that we'd get some witnesses in. We should certainly hear about what it means to follow the Elections Act, because it's crucial. Breaking the Canada Elections Act is serious business. That's why many people were concerned when all of the leading figures in the Conservative electoral team were brought up on charges—and they're still up on charges.
So let's do it and get it over with and get back to business.