Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'll have to beg your pardon. I think we both know that you as the chair of this committee have the power to second resources for the purpose of executing the mandate of Parliament and of this committee, which is to ensure that ministers, in this case, on the main estimates, are made present. Other committees, when they're suspended for a vote, will allocate the difference of time to the end of the day in order for the meeting to take place as parliamentarians have the right to exercise their voice on a question that the government needs to answer.
What I have a preference for is co-operation of a chair that would make those rights possible. I'm not saying that I find you contemptuous of your mandate. I find it disingenuous, however, to suggest that the minister's calendar is paramount to Parliament. I would beg you, Chair, to take this into consideration in the future. It's your job to make sure that members of Parliament, especially when it comes to indigenous issues, ask these questions and that you take this seriously.
What I've heard around this table today is almost nothing other than the Conservatives talking about why the north shouldn't get stoves to heat their homes and then the very good questions from Ms. Idlout.
Second to that point, we then end the meeting short for credible questions on the resourcing of indigenous issues. We have to get real here. This is not how members of Parliament who are elected should be treated. The minister can't just come out here and say, “Oh, on my calendar, I have a dinner at 6.30. I'm sorry, John, but I have to go”. This committee is a committee made for the purpose of indigenous peoples and their policies. Until our chair can make certain that we're respected, the policies and accountability, important mechanisms of this place, aren't met.
Wouldn't you agree?