Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have a couple of quick points for two colleagues whom I respect very much and who, I think, served on this committee through the pandemic: Mr. Jeneroux and Dr. Powlowski.
For Mr. Jeneroux, yes, although the amendment doesn't prescribe it, it very well could take the form of a royal recommendation. If you think of where we've had inquiries before, whether it's into wrongful imprisonment or other such things, I think that if there were ever a subject that was perfectly appropriate for a royal inquiry, it would be how, together, we all handled the COVID pandemic. We talked about it being once in a hundred years. If you don't have a public royal inquiry into something like this, it's hard for me to think of when one would. I would say, yes, absolutely, it could be a royal inquiry, a royal commission.
For Dr. Powlowski, I want to make sure that.... I totally respect his position on it. Reasonable people can have reasonable disagreements on these issues. I personally think that, although it may not be perfect, to me the whole purpose of the Inquiries Act is to set a mechanism for when we want to have an objective, arm's-length examination of an issue of national importance. That's what I think this is, and I think it's really critical that we take this out of the partisan field.
A government is going to have a different lens and vision on this than the opposition will. They may join issue and find agreement on some things, but a government will naturally have a desire to defend its actions. I don't think that's a pejorative. It's just what governments do. Opposition may at times have a different version and be critical.
That's why my whole rationale in proposing this amendment is to rise above the partisanship and find a non-partisan mechanism. I think the beauty of having a public inquiry is that these things are done in public. A royal commission can go out into communities across the country. It can televise, it can take submissions from the public and it can examine all of the issues in a very courageous way.
I just want to make sure that.... You know, if people don't think that's the appropriate way to go, I respect that. Reasonable people can have a disagreement on that, but I personally feel that this is very much needed in our country.