I'm calling this meeting back to order. Thank you very much.
I need to apologize to our witnesses. We really appreciate your being here.
Unfortunately, we have a bit of a challenge in the committee at the present time, because last weekend a confidential motion was leaked to the press. That makes everybody's lives very difficult. It creates a situation or a condition in which people maybe don't want to share their motions in advance.
Routine motions call for 48 hours' notice before being tabled in order for them to be presented to the committee. There are exceptions, but we've gotten into a habit of doing that more often than not. I think that's just something that we have to deal with. It is a bit of a challenge when last-minute motions come to the floor. It actually takes away from a level playing field, because some people know what's coming and some people don't.
I must admit that I wish to discourage this kind of behaviour. I want us to go back to giving 48 hours' notice for motions. I think it's very important to remember that last-minute things are unfair to your colleagues. Even though they might be legal in the strictest sense of the word, they're unfair to your colleagues.
I have to not reward that kind of.... If we want to go back and follow our procedure for routine motions, that's what we have to do.
I apologize for the time that we took today. I appreciate your patience with us.
Do we have debate?
Go ahead, Madam Vandenbeld.