Yes, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to propose an amendment and seek the unanimous consent of the committee to add a sentence at the end of this paragraph that says.... I'll just read it, and I'll go slowly so you can write it down.
The proposed amendment is “However, each witness shall be offered the opportunity to testify by video conference.”
The point of the paragraph that's been proposed, the routine motion, is that if requested by a witness we allow them to come testify to the committee. It's getting increasingly common at Parliament to allow testimony by video conference. It's more efficient. It's sometimes more convenient. The reason I think both have to be there is that you still want to maintain the ability to have witnesses come to Ottawa to testify for a number of reasons. Sometimes it's easier to have them in person. Sometimes what happens is that witnesses who live in regions like British Columbia, or farther away, tend not to be able to come to Ottawa, so you get people that live near Ottawa coming to testify before committee more frequently. That's why I think if we preserve both options, it's important.