Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have more of a comment than anything. I only joined this committee when we started the second session in mid-October. To my recollection, this is actually the first time we've talked about having the minister come here, after having gone full-hog into the services study and the strengthening of the dollar.
Mr. Chair, while I'm hearing a lot of indignation from the members opposite about the minister not being here, this is really the first time the topic has ever come up. In fairness, I don't disagree that the questions raised by the motion here are important questions; there's no question they deserve being looked at by our committee or the foreign affairs committee. I think they are obviously important questions that Canadians would be interested in, but we also have an obligation to conduct this in terms of the proper protocol set out by the law.
So in principle, I don't see any major objections, and I would certainly look forward, as I'm sure my colleagues would, to being in a spot a few weeks down the road when the minister can come and discuss with us some of these key issues, including the ones we've been dealing with at some length these last few months.