Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
It's important to note that experienced parliamentarians, including the minister, will know that decisions and conversations about the estimates are as much about what is not in them as they are about what is in them.
I have participated in many question-and-answer sessions with ministers about their estimates where we discussed decisions not to fund certain priorities, so I think it is legitimate to ask why there aren't resources for continuing to consult or for starting a meaningful consultation with Canadians about what our voting system is.
When we talk about responsible government, and governments having answers for their spending decisions, they have to answer just as much for what they aren't spending on as for what they are spending on.
I would say to Mr. Gerretsen that he might feel more passionate for my side of the issue were he on the opposition benches questioning a Conservative government. Here in Manitoba, we have a Conservative government that is not spending the money that it should on the pandemic. I'm sure Mr. Gerretsen is not implying that members of the Manitoba government shouldn't be able to challenge the government about pandemic spending that it is not doing simply because the government hasn't made a proposal to spend money that it's not going to spend.
We have to be able to talk about spending in general. Particularly as we are also discussing the main estimates, not just the supplementary estimates, it's a fair point to ask why funding for this initiative isn't there. That is my defence for why I think this is quite relevant.
I'll just end by saying I very much look forward to the minister's answer.