I would not seek to give advice to the committee on how to move forward, but I would reiterate what I have said before.
We are happy to work with parliamentary committees. In fact, “Open and Accountable Government” encourages departments and ministers to work with parliamentary committees to find consensus and to find compromise.
As I reflected on my last appearance, I did look at previous rulings from the Speaker of the House. I know that was raised last time. I would note that in 2010, Speaker Milliken did give a ruling that talked about safeguarding this. He referred to House of Commons Procedure and Practice, second edition, and quoted pages 1,068 and 1,069, which talked about how “[p]articular attention is paid to the questioning of public servants—