Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, fellow members.
I'd like to talk about something that happened in the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.
This week, we had the pleasure of hearing from witnesses on Bill C-44. We spent two hours discussing the bill. My fellow members on the committee did not think that was anywhere near long enough.
When the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities met this morning, we were shocked to learn that the chair of the committee had sent a letter to the chair of the Standing Committee on Finance yesterday. We didn't even know about the letter. As you probably know, Mr. Chair, the letter is dated tomorrow. I'm not sure what that mistake might mean. It may have something to do with the chair's haste to respond without the consent of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.
We discussed the matter at length this morning. The members of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities asked for more time to study Bill C-44 in order to make recommendations to the Standing Committee on Finance.
I wanted to make everyone aware of the situation. The letter was sent to the Standing Committee on Finance without the knowledge of the members of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.
What's more, we never even got the letter. I had to ask the chair of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities to give us a copy. None of my colleagues in the opposition, the NDP, or even the government party had received the letter.
For me, that raises questions about the procedure used and about what the Standing Committee on Finance intends to do with the letter, knowing that the committee it came from did not have the opportunity to discuss it.