First of all, this seems to be a trend with this minister and his appearances before committees. This is nothing new from this minister.
To Mrs. Davidson's comments, it's quite common for committees to proceed with other work and do other things while they wait for witnesses to come before the committee. There's nothing wrong with this committee proceeding forward with other studies until the minister's schedule can free him to come here. The question really is, does the minister want to come? He can't hide behind his schedule.
It's not uncommon for committees to proceed with studying two or three matters at the same time. When the minister's schedule frees up, he can come before this committee. We're in no urgent rush to proceed with this lobbying legislation review. We've been doing it for some time now. We've had some success. We've heard different aspects. We haven't heard other aspects from committee witnesses who we wish to have.
It's important that the minister come before this committee. This isn't life-threatening stuff. There are no deep, dark, secrets here to expose the minister to or embarrass the minister. It's kind of embarrassing that the minister doesn't want to come to discuss this issue. Is he too important to come to discuss the lobbying legislation? This is absolutely absurd.