I have no doubt that the minister will want to appear because she mentioned it yesterday. However, what she said yesterday is that she will appear “eventually”. What does that mean, “eventually”? Does it mean between now and the end of April? Now and the end of May? Between now and when we wrap up our meetings in June? Next fall? We have no idea. “Eventually” can mean many things. We need to act with rigour.
I heard what Mr. Champagne said, that he is currently checking the minister's availability. The question was raised on Tuesday. We've known that the minister is interested in appearing before the committee since Tuesday. We also knew the schedule, which is public. We knew that there is only one slot available between now and the end of April, and that is Thursday, April 21. If we want the minister to appear before the end of April, not only is the 21st the only date, but honestly, there was probably a way to contact the minister in the last 48 hours to confirm that she was available.