I totally understand the Liberal member's concerns about the Finance Minister piece there. I think it was pointed out by Mr. Kent previously that under the rules of the different committees, when it's behaviour of an individual around ethics, it actually may fall under the purview of the procedure and House affairs committee, PROC. I can understand the government not wanting Mr. Morneau in front of us under these conditions, so while it would be more ideal to hear from Mr. Morneau, because I think he has a story to tell, the only quibbling I would have is with the delay on what we're doing.
In a previous meeting...was it in camera or not? We've talked about the calendar previously. It was in camera.
I suspect that there might be space in our calendar prior to Christmas. I don't know for certain, but from my recollection and any public utterances from the committee's chair, I don't think I remember any moment in which our calendar was filled up right to the end docket of Christmas. I don't suspect a full study would even be possible prior to Christmas, and that's not what I'm suggesting. Having someone such as the Ethics Commissioner come in could certainly answer some questions we might have, but it could also help committee members with what a scope of study might be, and then prepare us well going into January or February if we were to dive deeply into this, if the committee chose in one of those in camera meetings to look at the ethics and Conflict of Interest Act. That could be something, but at least we could get going now with that initial scope, and then allow committee members to put forward something broader as we went ahead.