Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Given that this isn't a point of order, I'll make a couple of very brief remarks.
I believe expedience on this issue is incredibly important. I think—at least I hope—that there is a willingness by all members to ensure that this issue is dealt with in a timely manner.
Over the course of the last couple of months and over the course of the entire pandemic, many constituents and folks from across Canada have shared their concerns with me about the privacy of their information. When some of the news articles broke about how mobile data was being collected by the Public Health Agency of Canada and what that looked like, I heard a lot of feedback suggesting that Canadians want answers on this issue. They want to know what steps were taken. They want to know exactly what the decision-making process looked like. Who was responsible? What processes were or were not in place to ensure that their information was safeguarded, especially, as has been mentioned, in a world where, increasingly, tech and online data and whatnot....
We've seen headlines around the world about users' online information being misused. There is a need for clarity so that Canadians can trust their government. This is really an issue of trust, of ensuring that Canadians can trust that their government was not taking liberties with their information, especially at a time when, I would suggest, there has been a significant erosion of the trust that is needed for a government to effectively operate.
Those are more general comments. I thank you for indulging me on that.
Specifically to the amendment, we Conservatives have discussed that we would be willing to move forward with the amendment that Ms. Hepfner has brought forward. However, I hope that she would be open to a friendly amendment to the amendment. Instead of adding the date of January 14, I would suggest that it be replaced with “the day following the adoption of the motion”. It's perfectly in line with what I hope the spirit of the amendment is and just adds a bit of flexibility to ensure that this can be processed in a manner that respects both the committee members' time and, of course, the witnesses' time.
I can't see her on the screen right now. Is there a willingness for that friendly amendment? With that, I think the Conservatives would be—