Honourable senators, my question, which is essentially the same question on accountability, is to be put to the chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources and to the chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications if time allows.

I will start with Senator Galvez, please. It is not often that committees travel in the midst of considering a bill, but the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration has approved a budget of almost half a million dollars for members of the standing committee to travel while studying Bill C-69. Here is my question: Will you be following through on the rationale given to justify this exceptional expenditure of public monies and the bigger carbon footprint and the reason the committee needs to travel? What has been put in place to guarantee — as indicated to this chamber by proponents of this exceptional travel — that the voices of Canadians who have not yet been heard by this committee will in fact be heard as a result of this substantial, almost-half-million-dollar travel cost for the committee to travel at this time? Would your committee please include answering this question in detail through a report to this chamber after your travel is completed?