Chair, if I could, allowing the clerk to attend committee offers the clerk an opportunity to speak to the matters at hand. If there are misunderstandings, if there are questions about why and what has happened with respect to the CSSG and documents and redactions, the clerk can speak to those issues.
We need to hear from him, and right now opposition colleagues are preventing that from happening.
In so doing, we are also preventing something that is tremendously vital from moving forward, which is pre-budget consultations. Here we are debating this when we could be discussing the issue of the budget and what Canadians expect. The opposition's efforts here are standing in the way of our fulfilling our obligations under Standing Order 83.1, which this committee still has not considered.
It still has not considered what happens in instances where we don't fulfill that standing order, which is arguably the most important standing order related to the functioning of this committee. We have not considered that as a committee, because we have been embroiled in discussions and the intransigence of the opposition preventing us from moving forward.
I'm quite interested in moving forward with pre-budget consultations so that we can hear about the needs of the country at this time. Every single one of us on this committee, every single member, will bring with them a set of experiences that will inform the work of the committee on pre-budget consultations.
I'm looking at Mr. Julian. He has an interest in not-for-profit organizations. He has worked in that sector. They have a tremendously important role to play right now.
I'm looking at Mr. McLeod, who is very passionate about Canada's north and would be able to invite witnesses to speak about the needs of Canada's north during COVID-19.
I'm looking at Mr. Fraser—