The first part of the motion is a problem for me. I have a hard time seeing how a bill can be studied here, at a Commons committee, without witnesses appearing. That is not the way I like things to be done. I would like witnesses. We thought that representatives from federal financial institutions would be appearing. This is a federal act, after all. The person who provided evidence did so with reference to Ontario law, and that does not reflect the bill before us.
The motion says this:
That the committee postpone the clause-by-clause study of Bill C-54 until it has heard from the representatives of Equal Voice [...]
This implies that, if those people decide not to appear, we are stuck. That part of the motion should be changed. Otherwise, they could decide to show up next year. I do not know how long we should wait before studying this bill.
With regard to Mr. Guimond's motion, and the Holy Spirit descending from on high, let us make sure that we do not wait too long. I think that we could hear from witnesses next Thursday. We could set aside an hour for the regular witnesses, the financial institutions, etc. Next Tuesday, whether the House is sitting or not, we could continue the meeting after 11 a.m. to study the bill clause by clause. The report could be written right afterwards. We would not have to wait until the fall to table it. We can table it in the House, even if it is not sitting.
I think that covers everything.