I think it's incorrect to suggest that this is inconsistent with the speedy passage of Bill C-11. The only thing we're doing on Bill C-11 now is listening to witnesses. Everybody submitted names for the witness list. We're doing this in due process. I can't see any holdup.
As to as dealing with urgent matters deserving of our attention, Kevin would know as well as anybody that the sitting time of this committee is not unusually onerous. When Kevin was a member of the justice committee with me, I can remember sitting five, six sessions a week. So if we want to deal with this, we should find the time to deal with it as an important matter. I don't think it's a reasonable objection to say we can't consider it because we're too busy doing what we're doing. There's time to do this, and I think it's worth it. We should do it quickly.
The infrastructure programs, big programs, important programs to Canada—I'll acknowledge that some of these have been extended. The municipal rural infrastructure, the border and highway infrastructure, have been extended by the government. But they're making policy decisions on these programs without our having any say in the matter. These are important public policy issues. Large amounts of money are being committed and uncommitted without any parliamentary oversight at all.
So I think we have to do this. We should use time that is not currently committed to dealing with Bill C-11, so nobody can charge that this is getting in the way of Bill C-11. I think we should do it forthwith. In our absence, there are important public policy decisions being taken on significant programs.