It's actually a procedural point of order, so it's up to you to decide on it, not the minister.
The motion that was put before the committee was for the minister to stay for two hours. We have lost an hour of the meeting. The minister has not been in front of the committee in some months. We have billions of dollars of spending to scrutinize. A long statement from the minister with no questioning time from the committee is not sufficient.
I would like to know if the minister will be staying for the full two hours with the committee members today. Otherwise, perhaps the committee should make alternate arrangements for this before we proceed with the minister's statement.
Thank you.