Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Respectfully, I would say that the parliamentary secretary naturally has more access to the ministers than other members of the committee do, but the preference to have the ministers for two hours each was expressed clearly, especially by those of us who don't have the same access he does.
This has been the past practice of this committee and it certainly has been the practice of this committee for as long as I've been a member of it. I think this reflects the fact that foreign affairs and international development are critically important and distinct areas, and each of them, given the breadth of issues we're dealing with on the table, requires a fulsome examination.
This was the agreement of the committee previously. There was no objection when this issue was previously raised. It was already agreed to by the committee.
My suggestion would be that we continue to advance what was the unanimous position of the committee as was agreed upon at the time. Again, that aligns with past practice.
I don't think we need to remake the decision, because we already made that decision previously. We continue to be of that mind, and want to see that continue to go forward.