Chair, first and foremost, I just want to reiterate that we have never opposed the committee's will to have the RCMP come to this committee to testify on this or to speak to us about this.
I think it is very important to note that the last meeting we had on this was really about the process as to how this was done. That's a very important point for us to note because I think our committee is really all about openness and transparency. The more we can do that, the better it is, not just for us as a committee but also as a government, as a Parliament and as Canadians as a whole.
Specifically, we have heard from a number of the witnesses who are listed on this motion that they don't have anything to add. They don't have anything to say on the specific content and the matter that this motion is addressing. For example, Mr. Dion has said in the past, when he was asked, “Seriously, I have no opinion on that.” I don't know how it would be beneficial to our committee for us to have a witness who has proactively said, “I don't have an opinion on that,” and to spend so much time listening to what he has to say, knowing well in advance that he really doesn't have anything to say at all.
One thing that I think we should be addressing is the importance of bringing in witnesses who actually do have things to say or contribute to the matter that is addressed in this motion.
Second—and I can just go down the list—Mr. Konrad von Finckenstein has said the same. In fact, they appeared together. They really don't have much of a comment on this issue.
Finally, I don't think Mr. Butts has anything to add to this issue, either.
I realize that we want to spend three meetings on this. I'm also very grateful to Mr. Villemure for adding the amendment to his original motion to say that the TikTok study takes precedence over this, but I think we can nuance this.
We can say that this decision was made by the RCMP and it should be the RCMP that comes forward to explain why they made that decision. We should not include people who had no impact on that decision. We can be efficient with the time that we have in our committee and absolutely hear from the RCMP, to hear what they have to say, to hear how they came to the conclusion they did. We need to understand, however, that inviting people who really don't have a say in any of this, who didn't have any say in the decision-making and who don't have any jurisdiction in the decision-making either is not a good use of this committee's time.
First, in the body of the text where it says “devote three meetings”, I would delete “three” and add “one”: “devote one meeting to this study”. I understand Mr. Villemure's point about including the former conflict of interest commissioner, but again, as I said, he's gone on record saying that he has nothing to add to this, so I would further amend this motion by deleting part (a). Then, I would also further amend this motion by deleting part (f).
Sorry, I have the previous text. I'm not sure if that's the same.