Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I appreciate your using the word “corral”. As a former cattle rancher, it really means a lot. I can fully appreciate what you mean by trying to corral me. I'll do my best to ensure that I speak directly to the subamendment.
Largely speaking, Mr. Chair, I do believe we can find a consensus. I think you and I often agree on attempting to try to find a consensus and a pathway forward. I find myself attempting to balance the need for true accountability, and true responsiveness to a really serious concern of the operations of SDTC, with partisan witch-hunting. These are really tough for me to balance, which I think you struggle with as well, Chair.
As a matter of a proposition to my colleagues, I agree with Mr. Genuis under the first subamendment, but before I agree in full part to that, I would suggest that rather than go about the process of amendment, second amendment and subamendment, can we have an agreement to simply add any names, including sustaining Minister Guilbeault as a witness, and proceed with our meetings on these topics?
It's obvious to me that there are questions that members of our committee have for every witness who's been put forward on this list. They're going to use those witnesses for whatever they're going to use them for, no matter what, so I suggest that we just increase the list and be reasonable with each other. I propose that we collapse all three amendments and have a consensus of the committee.
Canadians expect us to do work here. I really want to get to the bottom of what is a very real issue that's been going on consecutively forever. These issues of procurement aren't just Liberal ones. They're also Conservative ones. I'm sure there have been instances provincially as well that even New Democrats or Bloc members have had to deal with.
I really would suggest that we take a more serious approach, add as many witnesses as we deem appropriate for the further study of this report—including the minister, including the RCMP and including the law clerk—and get to a consensus on this.
That would be my proposition, Chair. I think we can get there if we can try to avoid the obvious partisan back-and-forth that's sucking up committee time here.