Basically what we have are the time slots that we were provided that were agreed to by the whips. That's Tuesday to Thursday, from 11 until 1. We have three such time slots left.
Outside of that, we don't really have any time. There are possible evening sittings, but my understanding is that they've already been booked by other committees.
If it is the will of the committee to try to take one of those spots, basically it would be up to the whips to decide which committee is going to have that event.
Aside from that, even pushing a meeting to three hours is a bit problematic. It's not a guarantee that we can run right until 2 p.m. I'll have to double-check on that, because I don't want to leave the committee with the impression that it is something that's doable. There are impacts that follow. Every single time a committee runs over its allotted time slot, there is an impact on resources that cascades throughout the day. I will get back to the committee on whether even pushing for a three-hour meeting is indeed even possible.
With that, we have three meetings. The issue I'm going to run into, as clerk, will be inviting four separate people for three meetings. The committee would have to specify who would be invited for which day. If a person I invite for this Thursdays says they can't come on Thursday but are ready to appear on Tuesday, if Tuesday is the preferred day of a different witness we're going to run into some scheduling issues in that sense. It's not that someone wouldn't be declining the invitation; it would just be a matter of scheduling, and then we're looking at our motion there and the parameters that kick in with regard to reporting to the House or even issuing a summons. I'm going to need significantly more direction from the committee in order to set up these meetings.
Our House order only covers up until December 11. It would be extremely difficult to try to book witnesses for dates after that time, because we have absolutely no guidance from the House and no authority to meet in a hybrid fashion. As well, starting on December 19 and running until January 17 inclusive, there is a massive shutdown of the House of Commons infrastructure on the technical side due to upgrades, and I'm told that is not negotiable. Those upgrades need to occur.
Thanks.