Mr. Chair, you are looking for a consensus but I believe that most of us think we should hear the witnesses first. Their testimony might raise new questions that might be important. Experience shows that we would prefer meeting with the department people after having heard the witnesses, in order to clarify various points. We might vote on this and that would avoid you having to determine if there is a consensus or not. Most of us agree with hearing the public servants at the end.
On April 22nd, 2010. See this statement in context.