Mr. Chairman, thank you.
Not only are we veering off into some unchartered waters, as this particular investigation has been doing in the last number of weeks, but we also have a constitutional requirement to operate in both official languages, and as a national force, the RCMP operates in both official languages.
When I was in your position for a number of years, Mr. Chair, I was adamant about upholding that rule. It was not a matter of convenience for the majority who may speak one particular language or the other. We are an institution of official languages at all times.
We are a public body, Mr. Chairman. We are also televised, and we deal largely with verbal presentations. They may sometimes refer to documentation elsewhere, but the bulk of the material that we receive is oral.
Therefore, when I moved that these gentlemen come forward and make their presentation, I was hoping that they would make an oral presentation to us with some slides, and so on. Then we and Canadians could walk away from here saying we understood what this was all about.
If you're going to refer to 15 binders, and I hope that what Mr. Lake has isn't one of them—