Let me ask for clarify from the chair's perspective.
In point (a), Mrs. Shanahan, you are looking to set a deadline for witness lists, with the explicit consent of the committee. Do you envision a standard deadline that the committee will approve once, or would it be done meeting by meeting? Could you give me a sense of how many days you think would be adequate?
There's an issue with point (b), of course. Often, for the bulk of our reports, we're on autopilot when it comes to witnesses; we have the Auditor General and the subjects of the audits. Are you talking about extraordinary meetings? How do you propose that would work given the typical work this committee does?
Point (c) reads, “no witness be invited without instruction of the committee.” Would this negate the witnesses being proportional? Would the committee have to approve all witnesses, or could witnesses be invited based on whatever ratio is agreed to, if that was, say, four, two, one and one? Do all witnesses have to be approved by the committee, giving some members the ability to veto witnesses a party might want to hear from?
Could you respond to those questions, please, to give some clarity?