I fear we're pushing uphill here and may not be able to succeed, but I just would note—and the point was made by Mr. Clement—that there are all sorts of examples in which non-judicial or quasi-judicial bodies have the power to summon witnesses or to get information. Standing Order 108 would be a pretty good place to start.
Second, there appears to be nothing that would allow the committee to summon an individual here. Subclause 15(4) says that information may be provided orally—the official “may appear before the Committee”—but there is nothing to say that if an agency wanted to stonewall this committee and bring only somebody who is their PR person when the committee felt it needed to have an individual who knew what they were doing on the file, there's no way we can get that information that I can see in the bill, short of having a summons power. I don't see anything in the bill that would allow that.