Yes, absolutely.
We've been working together on this committee for a few years, so we have a good working relationship that enables us to be effective. It's been our practice to prepare a witness list once members have sent us their lists. After that, the analysts, the chair and I suggest a work plan, which we distribute. Members who were on the committee at the time received the work plan. This plan is not set in stone. Once it's circulated, if members have any comments to make, we ask them to do so as soon as possible. Otherwise, we will move forward.
Obviously, the plan will change depending on the availability of witnesses. Sometimes, witnesses may not be available on certain dates and we change the order of appearances, but we try to follow the plan as much as possible. That ensures that all parties are represented proportionally. In addition, we try to group witnesses by topic or by type of witness to have more productive discussions. So the work plan is distributed in advance.
After the meetings, on a more informal basis, I will regularly go and see the members and employees to give them updates on the witnesses I have invited from those proposed by their respective parties, those who are harder to reach and those who will come in the next few days.
All of that has already been done. Most of the members who were on the committee before April had an update at that time. We had to cancel some witnesses for the lobbying study, because there was a debate and the committee went in a different direction. So we picked up from where we left off before the debate, quite simply.