Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.
Bill C-26 is a very important issue. I'm going to ask for a little time on this. I have no intention of infringing on anybody else's time today, Chair, but I would like to quickly move a motion that's on notice, and hopefully get back to Bill C-26 quickly. It's a short motion.
I move:
That the committee acknowledge that auto theft is a pressing issue facing Canadians and pursuant to the motion agreed upon regarding auto thefts on October 23, 2023, the committee commence this study on Monday, February 26, 2024 and dedicate the following six Monday meetings to this study, while reserving the committee’s Thursday meetings for the study of Bill C-26. Additionally, pursuant to the motion agreed upon regarding the Rights of Victims of Crime, Reclassification, and Transfer of Federal Offenders on Monday, October 23, 2023, that the committee extend its meeting on Thursday, February 15, 2024 for an additional hour and the Minister be invited to appear for the full three hours in order to discuss all matters related to his mandate.
Chair, I feel this is a reasonable approach and motion to prioritize a serious issue. I think all of us around this table agree that auto theft is a serious issue.
The reason we added trying to get a little extra time with the minister is that we have not had a minister report to this committee since May 30, 2023. The last time a minister came for estimates was May 19, 2022. We all passed a motion on October 23, 2023, “that the committee invite immediately the Minister of Public Safety and department officials to appear for two hours to discuss his mandate.” I was hoping to consolidate some of those meetings together and make our time work a little better. Perhaps the minister, if he can fit it in his schedule, could find the time to talk to us about many pressing issues that are going on here right now.
With that, I will cede the floor, Chair.