I know you're a guest here. I don't know if you saw the notice of meeting, but what was published for today was that the first hour, from 4:30 to 5:30, would be with Minister Hajdu. That's what we had booked. She had committed to an hour with us. As we know, there were bells that prevented us from starting at 4:30. That created a crunch right from the start. We actually started 10 minutes earlier than we should have through the unanimous consent of the committee. The votes caused this crunch. For the second hour, Minister Vandal had agreed to be here from 5:30 to 6:30—for the full hour—but because of votes.... He'd planned his day and I don't control his calendar. We were told we had him until 6:30. Then he had other commitments that he had made.
It's through the unfortunate circumstances of votes disrupting our meeting. Usually, on Wednesdays, there are votes after question period. Then we're able to start at 4:30 and go through our two hours. Today is one of those unusual days. We've done the best we can. The ministers committed to being here for the time they could, with a hard stop. I believe I did my job by setting up the meeting with the resources we had for the time we had and in response to the motion, which was to have all three ministers here for the two hours.
We've now already agreed to have a third minister—Minister Anandasangaree—come for a third hour, as well as Minister Hajdu. Because she had to leave early, she has agreed to come back for the remainder of the time we were supposed to spend with her. She can't get back to us before May 31. We'll still hear from her then. We'll still have a chance to interact with her. However, if there's going to be a vote on the mains, minus the amounts that were passed through the interim supply period, that has to be done by May 31.
That's where we're at. We have resources until 6:45 with this panel. If we want to go into the next round, it would be 15 minutes—five for the Conservatives, five for the Liberals, two and a half for the Bloc, and two and a half for the NDP. We will run out of time at 6:45.
I also asked for some direction on two items. One is for May 29. Do we want to have a third hour with the minister, or displace one of the two panels we have already booked for the taxation study? Also, do we want to do the reporting back on the voting on mains at the end of that meeting, as opposed to waiting for Minister Hajdu's final appearance?
I have a speaking order here. Mr. Melillo is first, then Mr. Desjarlais.
It's over to you.