I won't take up too much time, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to take this opportunity to speak in favour of the amendment.
Also, I want to thank all members of the committee for the discussions that have happened over a lengthy period of time. Since we suspended and came back to enjoy spirited discussions on a variety of topics with regard to this motion, of course, the BIA has now been passed and referred to this committee. It is quite timely that we are debating this at the moment.
I'm in a tough position because, as a good-faith negotiator, I don't want to get into the details of the various talks that have been going on for a long time around this, but I think Mr. Blaikie was correct that this feels oddly familiar. If we go back to BIA 2022, we had a similar motion to this, but with an end date on it. It was filibustered by the Conservatives after some negotiation, until it wasn't. Then it was passed, and the only thing we lost was the time for witnesses to come and share their concerns about the BIA.
Like I said, I don't want to get into all the details, but we have followed a very similar path. It is quite interesting, I think, that through conversations with the Bloc and through conversations with the NDP, we were able to determine where the Liberals were, where the Bloc was and where the NDP was fairly consistently and fairly reasonably.
I think I'm on version 11 of the asks from the Conservatives. I've actually gone through multiple negotiators as well. People wonder why we're currently having a Conservative filibuster at committee. Let's be very clear about what this resolution is: This resolution is the consensus that was shared prior to the resolution's being drafted. At some point, everybody agreed to this, and then the goal posts changed.
Now Mr. Blaikie has put forward an amendment that addresses the primary concern, even though I would also note that the prestudy already has an invitation for the minister to appear. On the request of Monsieur Ste-Marie hours ago, we're working on a date between now and May 18. I think it's a fair resolution. It's a great way to study the BIA. It does it in a timely way that reflects what we did last year and the year before, and I am very excited about getting to a vote.