Thank you, Mr. Chair.
All of us take parliamentary committees very seriously, and when witnesses are called, there has to be a seriousness attached to that; however, a move to summon witnesses, as this motion calls for, I think is a giant leap in the wrong direction. I don't see the need for a formal summons at this point.
Perhaps, Mr. Chair, you can go back again. Not everybody will understand the nature of parliamentary committees and their importance in terms of our overall governance, if I can put it that way. A summons at this point in time doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I can also recall, Chair, not on this committee but on previous committees where something similar transpired, that a point of clarification was resent to the individual or individuals the committee wished to hear from. Things are resolved at that point in time without a summons, without anything like that.
We also have to think long and hard about what kind of precedent this committee sets, of course, to other committees. If we are going to be summoning witnesses left and right, it doesn't really make for a co-operative, good relationship between parliamentary committees and prospective witnesses. I can only recall once in my time as a member of Parliament when I've seen a formal summons issued. As I said, it represents an extraordinary step, one that, even based on what you just read, Chair, I still do not think is warranted at this point in time.