Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to start by thanking the opposition and the NDP for bringing forward this motion. I think Mr. Bezan put it very well when he said this is on the minds of many Canadians. They are hearing in the news what's going on, and they quite often are wondering how this might impact Canada and what our response to it would be.
I'm very supportive of the premise, or of the direction that we're going on this, or at least that you're presenting that we should go. I would be inclined to think that we should change this a little bit so that we can get the best impact in terms of the public's ability to see what's going on and become aware of exactly what those threats are. I've prepared an amendment that I submitted to the clerk a few moments ago. Maybe she can distribute it at this time.
First, I would ask that we delete “immediately convene meeting(s)” and insert “conduct a public hearing within the next 45 days”. Second, I would delete “study” and insert “to further understand”. Third, I would delete “defence experts” and insert “subject matter experts”.
If the amendment were to succeed, the motion would then read as follows:
That, given the recent developments in North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities, the committee conduct a public hearing within the next 45 days with government officials and subject matter experts to further understand Canada's current threat assessment of North Korea and Canada's abilities to defend itself and our allies in the event of an attack by North Korea on the North American continent using intercontinental ballistic missiles, conventional weapons and/or non-conventional weapons of mass destruction.
That's the amendment I would move, Mr. Chair.