Mr. Chair, I want to thank you.
The minister was invited to come. The minister was escorted by officials. The question was put straightforwardly: had they advertised? They said they had. The question, again, went back to them, in what major newspapers? They assured us that it was done widely. A couple of days later we received a letter that said no advertising had been done except through some posters.
A judge reading our minutes, or somebody presenting, certainly needs to know the facts and what has happened, and we need to make sure we get to the bottom of the comments that were made by the deputy minister on record, in order to make sure that we ask the department to aggressively go after advertising, should there be any other Canadians out there who are lost Canadians and who don't know about it.
We've seen the pain and suffering that people have gone through. We've seen children being separated from their parents because they don't have the right to stay in Canada. We've heard from witnesses around this table who certainly had some heartbreaking testimony. And I think it's incumbent upon the minister and this government to do the right thing and not sweep it under the carpet, so it can be seen as having been done. We need to practise due diligence, and the minister and the deputy minister have to be held accountable in order to make sure it reaches all the affected Canadians.