Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to briefly review a bit of the record. I am going to quote from the meeting on February 17.
You said:
On another issue, I agree with Mr. Davies on indigenous health. It's come up from some members in talking to me. I haven't had any direction at all from the minister, by the way. I've not had one ounce of direction from the minister on this, and I'm pleased that we haven't. Eventually we will have, because there will be legislation, and hopefully she'll come here and make a presentation and tell us her direction, but nobody is trying to direct this committee. We're on our own, and I hope we stay that way. I appreciate that. I did talk to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs because the aboriginal issue had come up, and I wondered if it would be a problem for her if we did this. She said, “No, I'd love you to do a study on aboriginal health.” Just to let you know, she said that to me, and I was very pleased to hear it.
That was February 17, 2016. On February 22, 2016, our subcommittee met, and that's where we prioritized some issues. We came back with five issues, which included pharmacare, antimicrobial resistance, community care, blood supply, and one other issue. We've done all of them except home care and aboriginal health. On March 7, 2016, this committee adopted the subcommittee's report, formally adopting those five priorities. There is no question that this committee has already adopted the priorities we set forth.
On the question you raised about whether we can or should undertake this study, as you have long stated—and very correctly, Mr. Chair—in these committees, we are masters of our own affairs. We don't take direction from anybody—not the minister, not other committees. There is nothing that prevents us.... I think it's important for my colleagues to understand that whether or not any other committee is studying something, that's not a barrier to our undertaking a study if we want, although it might be instructive.
Number two, I checked with Charlie Angus, our critic, and he told me that no motion has been made before the indigenous.... You said you spoke to the chair of the committee, Mr. Chair, but—