Thank you, Chair. I hope we'll get support for this motion.
I want to conclude by responding to Mr. Jowhari very specifically here. We have put forward motions before to have ministers come. We have not seen anywhere near the level of reluctance about inviting those ministers to appear. Notionally, a minister doesn't have to appear if they're invited, although we would hope that they'd respond positively to that invitation. I think there are important questions to ask about this issue as well as a number of other issues relating to the committee's mandate.
When other ministers have been mentioned as potentially people we want to have testify, there's been a much greater willingness to allow that testimony to occur. But somehow, for some reason, with Minister Joly, immediately the government members are jumping in to try to prevent this committee from issuing that invitation. It's striking, because we have a person who is so prominent in the government, who is such a core part of the Trudeau government's decision-making process, and yet it's someone who Liberal MPs don't want to see in a position where they have to answer questions from the opposition.
I think somebody who has a senior role in government, who is planning to contend for the most senior role in government, should be prepared to answer questions from MPs about the things that happen in their department. If you look at the record, at the selective approach that Liberals take, for other ministers they say, sure, they can testify, but for Minister Joly, every time this has come up on different issues at OGGO and elsewhere, government members are eager to prevent her, in particular, from being invited to testify. She has very rarely testified before parliamentary committees. She's never testified before this committee. Let's give her the chance. If the government has a good story to tell here—if they do—then let the minister tell that story.
I think it's fair to the minister and it's fair to Canadians to issue that invitation for her to be able to respond to.
Thank you.