I can't underscore enough the importance of the words of my colleague, Mr. Motz.
This is to all the lawyers who are on this committee, particularly my colleague Mr. Virani, who worked for the Ontario public service as a Crown attorney. There is no substitute, in my view, for questioning someone in person. I'm mindful of the House order. I'm also mindful of the fact that we can't force anybody to attend in light of that order. However, we can use words such as “strongly encourage”, “strongly recommend”, “make every effort to”, or “wherever possible”.
To the extent that some ministers have already appeared in person on the public safety committee in the last couple of weeks—the Minister of Public Safety, Minister Mendicino, has done that on numerous occasions—it is within the purview of this committee to make that type of language possible. I would encourage that wherever possible.