Thank you, Chair.
I hear what Mr. Dykstra, the parliamentary secretary, is saying. Certainly in the last couple of days there have been some heightened tensions and some celebrated cases of people seeking refugee status, and the minister has jumped in and made some comments, pretty well putting a prejudice on the case and not letting the system work on itself. We have the boatload of refugees who have come from Sri Lanka, and the minister has already jumped and made the decision and has given directions to the people about which way they should be moving, influencing the outcome of this. Certainly this is not the place of the minister.
Now I hear Mr. Dykstra saying he wants another 30 days. Well, do you know what? I personally think we've done due diligence on this. We heard it. It was from last summer. I have to give Mr. St-Cyr credit for bringing this forward. I don't think we can afford another 30 days. This is something we examined. The committee has to move on its own. When the minister comes forward with amendments or changes and all those things, we will discuss it then.
I don't see why we should wait until the minister makes up his mind. This committee is a master of its own direction and therefore we should let the committee deal with where we want to go. When the minister decides where he wants to go, then he can tell us what he wants us to examine. I don't think we should be tied to the minister, or what the minister's schedule is, or the minister's press releases, or what the minister's thoughts are.