Thanks, Mr. Chair.
I'm glad Mr. Schmale brought up no further delays because a concern that I have with the amendment is that it still allows for us to delay the passage of Bill C-61.
I have no concern with the ministers reappearing. My concern is that the timeline is going to likely overlap with the ongoing study that we're doing on Bill C-61. We have a substantial number of amendments.
I would be open to a further amendment that could say, “upon the completion of Bill C-61”. My concern is that this is an incredibly important piece of legislation that I think we all want to pass. The more that we kick it down the road with interruptions like this—despite the fact that it's on an important matter, which is the appearance of ministers—the more we jeopardize this important piece of legislation that first nations across the country are looking for.
I'm not going to formally move this as an amendment. I'm just informing the committee. My recommendation would be that we adopt a motion that says, “following the completion of Bill C-61”—which would mean clause-by-clause and its subsequent passage—we then ask the ministers to appear.
If we don't do that, then the ministers will appear and anything can happen. We can get into a filibuster. We can get into a long, drawn-out conversation. Again, we jeopardize the ability for this committee to swiftly deal with Bill C-61, which is not only a critically important piece of legislation but also has an immense and complicated number of amendments that are going to take us a substantial amount of time.
Further to that, I think that as lawmakers what we understand with the complexity of this is that, if we begin going through a third of Bill C-61, then ministers appear and then we go back to Bill C-61 at the next meeting or meeting after that, we'd be saying, “Where were we on that? Oh, yeah, we did this.” We'd lose our rhythm and we'd lose our understanding. It becomes more complicated for the clerks.
Again, my urging to the committee is to change the wording. I'm not officially putting that forward, but it's to change the wording so it says, “following the completion of Bill C-61”, the ministers appear. If we are all serious about getting Bill C-61 passed expediently, then move this a little further down the line. You'll get your opportunity to talk to the ministers, but let us pass the legislation first.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.