Hon. Frances Lankin: I have a couple of different points that I want to raise questions on. May I start with understanding in terms of what I’ve heard around the process?

There are some elements of the motion that you moved that actually contain the beginning of a plan for transition, in terms of increasing hours of Senate committees. I’ve heard that Senator Plett contributed to that thinking and I want to say I appreciate that. I think setting out some kind of transition and helping us understand and boosting our opportunity to do really important work, as we see the Budget Implementation Act and other things coming through, is important.

Is that, in fact, the only area of discussion that there was either agreement by some and opposition by the other? Or was there, in fact, also agreement which usually happens in leaders’ meetings to the process that will follow that this would be tabled, it would be called at a certain point in time, that there would be a vote, maybe standing, maybe on division? I do not understand. Normally these agreements are accompanied by a process agreement as well.

Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. Again, let me be clear: I was responding in the context of allegations or insinuations that somehow there was some sort of secret plan here — as Senator Housakos surmised or wondered out loud what meetings might have taken place. The answer is no.

The information on which I based my conclusion that it was appropriate to extend it — and presumably the information upon which the other senators and leaders who supported the prolongation to June — is a combination of things. It’s information from the Senate about the cases in the precinct. It’s evidence that is publicly available in terms of the situation not only in Ottawa or in Ontario, but in other provinces. It is information with regard to what we don’t know, as I said earlier in response to Senator Seidman, that we have to guess how bad the situation actually is based upon extrapolations from waste water data because we’re not testing.

It is the information that was available upon which to make a proper decision.