The rule is that all committees meet twice a week. The government can introduce fewer justice bills, fewer other bills, but we are not responsible for the fact that the government is not managing its agenda properly. Twice a week, that's the rule. Before we move on to the second point, get your whip to discuss the matter with mine; they can look into it. As far as we're concerned, the rule is two meetings per week.
Mr. Chairman, with all due respect for you and for all parliamentarians, I feel that if we do not set out some ground rules, we're going to be—and I mean this—bulldozing our way through legislation. That's not how we want to operate. I'd kindly like to point out, Mr. Chairman, that last time, you came to the steering committee and said there would be two meetings for the bill, despite the fact that we hadn't discussed the matter at all. I do not want the number of meetings to be pre-determined; I want us to see what type of information we need, which witnesses we want to hear from, and consider all the information the committee will need in order to adopt a bill based on accurate and compelling information. If it takes eight committee meetings, so be it; if it takes two, there will be two, but I do not want us to establish ahead of time that there should be two meetings for such and such a committee. That, Mr. Chairman, is unacceptable. Some bills we agree on and others not, but we should always ask ourselves what type of information we require.
Mr. Chairman, the government has to quit thinking it can force us into an inordinate amount of work just because it has a law and order agenda. That is not the committee's responsibility. The government is free to introduce any bill it chooses, but the committee is free to decide how it operates. I think that has to be the basic ground rule.
And in closing, Mr. Chairman, I should add I do not want to engage in a partisan debate on the issue, but that's democracy. Seven out of ten Canadians did not support your platform. We're not simply going to shove the legal system over to the right for Stephen Harper's sake. You can count on our cooperation to ensure the committee runs smoothly, but you are now looking at 12 bills out of 29. That is not a speed at which we are willing to work.