Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. Before I answer, allow me to add a response to the previous question from Senator Patterson on the receivability of an amendment to the motion. Once again, my apologies for not remembering that, in fact, according to subsection 58(6), amendment of the motion is not receivable under the act.

Getting back to your question, it’s common knowledge that the Government Representative Office truly hoped to respond to the request made by several senators, because most of the groups in the Senate wanted to have a Committee of the Whole. We supported this request because we believe, in the context of this unprecedented and historic debate, that senators have the right to receive key ministers who could answer their questions and that they could benefit from this.

However, in the circumstances and given the tight deadlines for this process, it would require the unanimous consent of the Senate to hold such a committee.

I can’t speak about what happens in private meetings with the leaders or other people. What I can say is that we attempted to find a way to obtain unanimous consent for the three ministers to appear in this chamber before starting the debate, but that was not possible. For that reason, I’m pleased that we were able to organize something outside the chamber. It wasn’t my first choice, but it did nonetheless give senators access to the ministers. We are pleased that we were able to organize that meeting, which fulfilled a legitimate and important request made by several senators. It’s too bad Canadians couldn’t participate and attend, but we are bound by certain rules, and the rule of unanimous consent is not always accessible to the Government Representative in the Senate. That is all I can say on that matter.