I hear what Ms. Raitt says. It is a strong argument.
Let's remember that during the election.... I am thinking of the TPP study. There has been a promise to consult widely with Canadians on the TPP. That is being done through the international trade committee. There has been a promise to consult. The government is saying it consulted widely on the budget, which has been done through the budget of the Department of Finance. We are not given the opportunity to consult on something that we should have seen, because it is done every year.
I do have some problems. If the government has said it will be open and transparent and will actually hold consultations, it should be funding the ability of committees to do that. In that case, if consulting with Canadians is done by the government, which is legitimate, then it should be done with department and government funds, not with committee funds. In that sense, either the TPP study, through the international trade committee, should have been done the same way that we are being asked right now, which is with video conference, or the minister and staff could have gone on the DFAIT budget. That would have been another possibility. Now we are stuck because it is by first come, first served that we are using the committee funds.
I find it hard to believe. I would like to have some answers as to whether we can have more money in the committee budget, in general, and also some kind of priority set among committees on how this money would be used. This issue came to me today, so I am not necessarily prepared to have my whole argument, but it would be legitimate to start seeing what the priorities are in terms of how this general budget for committees is being spent.