It's something that the committee can take back to the steering committee, Mr. Williams, but I can tell you where we were coming from.
It's been our experience that a lot of members try to schedule other events at 3:30, whether it be interviews, meetings with people, or going back to offices. On a lot of occasions, which you as former chair know, it's very difficult to get started at 3:30. In fact, many times we start at quarter to four. We thought we would try to start at 3:30.
If it presents a major problem for members of the committee, we can certainly revisit it. That's the reason behind it. As you can see, we're starting now and it is very close to 3:30.
But again, I'll put that on the agenda, Mr. Williams, at the next meeting of the steering committee, and we'll see what the views of the members are.
Is there anything further?
Before we ask the Auditor General for her opening remarks, I want to note a point of information.
We approved by motion the report on the Department of Public Works and Government Services that deals with the leasing of government office space. Of course, we circulated it to each and every member. According to committee practice, we gave everyone 24 or 48 hours to comment. We did not receive any comments. The report will be finalized and translated, and it will be presented in the House at the first opportunity.
If time allows, perhaps we could spend the last 20 minutes in camera, reviewing the most recent draft of the gun control report. As members are all aware, we spent a considerable amount of time on the report; however, certain amendments were made. Those amendments were made in both official languages and circulated to the committee. We want the committee to have one last look at the report. We will do that later today at the end of this meeting.
Having said that, I am now going to ask our Auditor General for her opening comments.