I would like to invite Mr. Lawrence to put on his earpiece. In my remarks earlier, I set him straight about the fact that people didn't need a carbon tax to have to skip meals, put their children first and struggle to pay the rent. I've done my fair share of that over the years.
I also talked about the respect owed to the people whom we want to invite and the need to fully grasp their situations and issues. This isn't just about meeting with the people who have been asking to see me for months, and that's already a lot. It's also about showing respect for the witnesses. I know that April 1 is coming up and that this isn't an April fool's joke. Nonetheless, it's about showing respect for premiers and their time. Their time is just as valuable, if not more valuable, than ours. A premier of a Canadian province or Quebec has a long list of responsibilities.
I prefer to set the record straight. With my average of 80 hours of work a week, I don't think that anyone would consider me a lazy person who skips out on her work, wants to rush through things and doesn't want to attend one more meeting. That isn't the case at all. Let me be very clear. In my opinion, this is about showing respect for our guests and for the teams involved. We must constantly ask these teams to work more quickly. Our guests have the right to receive questions related to their concerns and to feel fully heard and not rushed. I wanted to make that clear.
I'm ready to vote at any time.