Mr. Chair, I find the exercise a bit contradictory, so to speak, given the information we received on Monday.
On Monday, we were not even sure whether we wanted to study the Translation Bureau issue right away. We wanted to hear from the speakers before prioritizing the topics. I have no objection to discussing what the priorities are for us, but I think we talked about them at the last meeting. If we agree that the idea is to listen first to the participants before we determine our priorities based on their presentations, I think it is a little counterproductive, if I may say so, to prioritize the proposed topics right away because we will then have to go over them again.
Of course, I have priorities to propose. However, someone—I think it was Mr. Lefebvre—said how important it is to listen to the presenters to prepare a list in order of priority. We can discuss things in broad terms, but it's a different story to make commitments as to the exact order of the given studies without even knowing whether the proponents have other priorities to propose. I think that flies in the face of what was decided by consensus on Monday. Perhaps my view is not shared. I suggest that we think about this before we start prioritizing the issues.
That being said, let me go back to the point I mentioned before. On Monday—you were not here, Mr. Bélanger, but Mr. Fergus represented you—we heard two members of the committee move a motion to give precedence to the study on the Translation Bureau. I supported that motion in your absence. Of course, for me, that must be the first priority, given that this translation tool will be installed on all government computers starting on April 1. My understanding is that there is a real controversy about this tool. One of its designers specifically said that it is useful only for reading, not for writing. However, it seems that the instructions encourage its use even for writing short emails.
Given that a motion has already been passed, I think this should be considered a priority. In this case, there is no need to wait for the proponents, because members of the committee from all parties reached a consensus on Monday.