Thank you very much, Chair.
I appreciate all of our members' concerns on this issue, and I really do respect the way that this issue has been raised, although I think it could have been done with a little bit more class.
Ultimately, I'm not sure what the objective is here. The majority of the witnesses who are presented in the amendment and the main motion—I'll speak to both of them all at once, Chair, with respect to efficiency—have appeared at previous committees before on this exact same issue, and I'm happy to highlight which committees they've attended, and when.
Leah Lawrence appeared twice on SDTC, at the ethics committee on November 8, 2023, and the industry committee on January 31, 2024. Andrew Noseworthy has appeared twice already as well, at the industry committee on December 11, 2023, and on June 5, 2024. ADM Douglas McConnachie appeared on SDTC at the ethics committee on November 8, 2023.
I'm not sure if members opposite feel that the witnesses are not giving them the answers they want. I'm not sure if there's any misconception as to what has happened. I think this has been a very, very well-documented affair thus far with respect to what has happened. I'm really not sure about the next steps, and I'm hoping that members opposite can perhaps clarify for me what the next steps are going to be.
At this point in time, we can keep calling witnesses back time and time again and then ask them the same questions again and again. Ultimately, what is it that we're trying to achieve here? If we as a committee can get to that understanding, perhaps we can outline a plan ourselves, based on consensus, as to where we want to go and how we're going to get there, because right now it looks like we're trying to grasp at straws. I don't think that is the best way for our committee to spend its time.
While I respect members and their interest in exploring this issue, I would encourage members to also note what the endgame is and perhaps work backwards from that endgame to where we are now. I don't think that this is what's happening. I think calling in people again and again from one committee to another and another is not helping them achieve what they want to achieve here. If they're trying to catch “gotcha” moments or whatever their objectives are, which are very unclear to me, I don't think this is the way to do it.
Chair, I park my comments there, but I hope that members understand and can outline why, how and what the objectives are.
Thanks, Chair.