Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I would ask the honourable member if she would simply share with this committee whether or not the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance would be willing to come to this committee for a very reasonable two hours.
Certainly I know Mr. Perkins and other Conservative members would be happy to get on with the business of this committee. We think it's entirely reasonable that the Minister of Finance on a budget that spends almost $500 billion would come to this committee. I'm just curious whether that member heard from the Deputy Prime Minister that she would in fact be willing to come to this committee for two hours when she indicated her availability to appear next Tuesday.