Thank you very much for that.
What I would note is that this motion actually provides for a substantial amount of time in order to try to coordinate meetings, and if there are negotiations about a potential Monday meeting, I have not been approached either directly or through the government whip's office to the NDP whip's office about any negotiations for a Monday meeting. There may be some rumours circulating but there has been no formal discussion with me or with my party about that.
What I would say is that the mechanism that has been used by the leader of the official opposition only allows for an extension of the study—I'm sure Mr. Peterson will know—up to the third day preceding the last supply day. At the moment, our understanding, given the projected calendar of government business, is that the last supply day may very well be on Thursday, which means that the last possible day for consideration would be Monday, which is June 11, nine days before June 20, which is the date in my motion.
Notwithstanding any legitimate procedural efforts by the official opposition to extend the study, I think that the motion before us provides a lot more latitude in order to have a bit of extra time to study the estimates, to do it in a way that's more planned, rather than a rushed meeting on a Monday, not knowing whether Monday is going to be the last day or whether we'll have subsequent days.
This motion provides both more time and more certainty with respect to the committee planning its business.