Thank you, Chair.
Out of respect for the work we could be doing here today, and perhaps because I don't enjoy the sound of my own voice as much as others do, I won't take up as much time as some of my colleagues have.
We've been having this conversation now to seemingly no end. The saddest part is that what's being proposed in the subamendment does nothing but create a parallel process to track decisions that were not assessed as requiring a screen.
To Mr. Cooper's notes on the something that's missing and on certain points we've heard previously pertaining to compromise, the motion with our amendments will provide the committee with a report that outlines situations where the screen was applied and with updates on how the process is completed, to determine whether one is needed. If there are problems—as they spend so much of this House's time and resources saying—that should be more than enough to identify them.
When we get to doing work at this committee, we hear from witnesses across the board who tell us how rigorous our system is. Every minute we spend in this room having this conversation...what certain people here are saying is that they don't have faith in those institutions.
I said this on Monday and I'll say it again. I've been on this committee for over a month now, and I've heard nothing but long rants that are turned into clips. This is time we could be spending on incredibly important studies—studies that were collectively agreed upon as matters of utmost importance. In fact, I distinctly recall being told on Monday, “Don't worry, Mr. Al Soud; we'll be able to get back to doing that work on Thursday.”
We could be using today's meeting to do some work. We could be making use of the time we have today to move forward on what we collectively know to be of tremendous value, yet here we are again going on long rants for the sake of generating clips. All I ask is that we get to work. We're here.
Ms. Gaudreau tells us that she wants to do real work. I have confidence in the committee members. We're here to do real work.
They can't say that they prioritize the work we're doing here and then in the same breath continue with rants preventing us from doing that work. They will go on, I have no doubt, but Canadians are far smarter than these members seem to think. They see through this. This is disappointing. That's all I'll add on this.
To Mr. Cooper's note on approval ratings, perhaps he could enlighten us as to where the Prime Minister's currently sit. To his comment on my time in government, I'll echo the kind words of Mr. Barrett this past Monday: Feel free to follow and like.
Thank you, Chair.