Thank you.
I would like to thank those who are here, who have spent their time listening very carefully to the questions that have been put forward to them during clause-by-clause consideration up to this time. I appreciate that because, as I saw many times over the last few days and hours in this committee, members opposite were having side conversations, doing their own thing and reading books rather than paying attention to what was going on and the questions that were being asked.
I want to thank you, but I also want to pose one question to each of you before I move on. I'm not trying to keep you to a one-word answer, but I think it probably will be a yes-or-no answer. I would just like to have your opinion on one thing.
Throughout this process during clause-by-clause so far, we have asked questions about the amendments that had been presented by the NDP, by the Bloc and by the Conservatives. I don't think we got to a Liberal or a government amendment yet. However, we did have what I thought were important questions. I believed that they were relevant questions.
During that period of time, we had a lot of questions. Part of the reason we had a lot of questions is that the first part of this process before clause-by-clause was so rushed, we barely had time to catch our breath and understand fully this long, 90-page bill.
My question is simple. When we asked questions about each amendment as we looked at them, were they relevant questions to the bill or to the amendments?
Mr. Gilkes, were the questions we asked you relevant to the bill or the amendment? Did we ask questions outside the scope of the bill or the amendment?