The special committee commenced its work by establishing time frames for the submission of written briefs by counsel for the Minister and counsel for the Conflict of Interest Commissioner. These time frames provided that the Minister would file material respecting the merits of her application by June 22, 2001, the Conflict of Interest Commissioner would file a brief responding to this by June 29, 2001 and the Minister would file a final response by July 4, 2001. The July 4, 2001 response date was changed by agreement to July 6, 2001.

The special committee anticipated that it would be in a position to conduct a public hearing Thursday, July 12, 2001 to deal with the application by the Honourable Jane Groenewegen in this matter. Due to various conflicting schedules, it was difficult to obtain a date for the hearing in sufficient time to allow for a report back to the House by July 23, 2001 as directed in the motion, which established the committee. This hearing date was available to all with the exception of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner, who had other previously scheduled commitments in Vancouver. However, it was anticipated that her counsel would be in attendance and that the Conflict of Interest Commissioner could be connected by telephone to the proceedings.

The written material was, for the most part, provided by the parties within the time frames established by the special committee. This written material was made available to the public in advance of the hearing.