Madam Chair, I will speak against that amendment. We are the members of this committee, and there are times when there are issues that are very difficult and complicated. I don't want a war going on behind us between our party staffers bringing expertise when there is a special event. We are the ones who are accountable for the work we do. I don't want us bringing big guns every time there is a controversial issue. It should be one of the employees in our office who is on a permanent basis.
I've chaired a committee where they were bringing the big guns. We broke a record for the longest clause-by-clause. We broke a record for the longest meeting, 28 hours straight. It wasn't us arguing all the time, it was people feeding stuff to the members. So if you want to go through that, let the big guns come in.
It's the same as negotiations with teachers' federations, if you've ever been a trustee. You have your negotiations locally, and when it gets tough for them, they bring in the big guns from Toronto and Ottawa. I personally don't care to have that at this committee.