Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I appreciate what my colleague MP Green was trying to do with this large motion. I really can't support it. We had a really good start to this committee today. It was very collaborative with a lot of good discussions. As a committee member, as an MP, I really can't vote on something that I simply have not seen and have not been able to study. I think asking for a snap vote on something as large as that is unfair. I think it goes against the spirit that we're establishing here on this committee in terms of working together collaboratively. I just don't think it would be fair to put us in a position to vote on something that we haven't seen.
I'll be honest with you, Mr. Green. You lost me after about the ninth chapter of the motion. I really would like to have an opportunity to look at it, study it and then come back confident that I know exactly what I am voting for. A journalism professor of mine at Carleton once said that if your mom tells you she loves you, go and verify. I think I want to be able to have an opportunity here. I fully appreciate what the member was trying to do in terms of advancing the work of the committee, but I just don't think it would be fair for us to vote on something that we don't have all the details on.
As my colleague Madame Vignola mentioned, I too am very visual. As I said, I lost the thread of the motion about halfway through. I just want to have the opportunity here to read it and study it. Again, I'm sure if everything is in order, we'll be able to move forward on that. I really feel that we need to have this in front of us and to be able to read it. I didn't receive—maybe I was the only one—the actual motion ahead of time from the clerk. I just think that, especially with something as large as this, we all need to be able to look at it.
Again, in the spirit of what we've established in this committee today, I really think that the proper thing to do is simply for us to go back, get that copy—both in English and in French—and be able to look at it in order to make sure everything is in order and to move confidently. With something as important as this, especially if it's going to establish the agenda for the entire committee and establish the tenor and the tone of how we work together, I really do think we need to take a pause here to be able to look at the motion that's being put forward, to consider it and to do the right thing, the responsible thing, and vote for it with full information.