Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I, too, would like to wish everyone a happy new year and a productive year ahead. I know that we have our work cut out for us on the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. I'm eager to begin the studies we decided on before the holidays, but for the time being, we're discussing the subject raised this morning.
It's important that we take the opportunity Mr. Barrett's motion provides to ask the commissioner to come and explain to us the rules governing travel in the Conflict of Interest Act. As my colleague Ms. Khalid pointed out, this is a democratic institution, so we need to make sure we're following the rules.
It's also important to note that the Prime Minister was travelling with a friend. It wasn't a trip with a Hungarian think tank, for example, as my colleague mentioned earlier. I think the commissioner would have a lot to say about some other members choosing to take a trip with a Hungarian think tank. However, we're talking about a trip with a friend. So I think my colleagues have clearly understood the explanations provided.
Mr. Barrett's motion asks that we hear from the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner for one meeting, if I understood correctly. More specifically, it would be to ask him questions about the travel rules set out in the Conflict of Interest Act, in order to better understand the situation. In my opinion, that would be the most useful thing for the committee.
I'd therefore like to move an amendment, so that the motion requests that the interim Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner appear for one meeting regarding the travel rules set out in the Conflict of Interest Act.