Thank you, Madam Chair.
All I was suggesting here is that we extend the invitation to the minister to appear at committee after the testimony of the ombudsman, should he choose to do so. I'm not suggesting on the same day, as Mr. Robillard seemed to imply. I think that's one reason.
The second reason is that we have a second issue that has come up in public and that is the media reports that say we have a second chief of the defence staff who appears to have been under investigation for a period of time and it's unclear when actions were taken, if any, or whether his suspension was a voluntary suspension. That's a second set of questions we didn't have before us when we started these hearings, we'll call them that, the study. For that reason, I would extend the invitation to the minister today to allow him time to consider whether he wants to respond to both of those things.
On the question of whether there are further witnesses, I do agree with Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe that the question of any further witnesses should be left to a later date. I'm only suggesting today that the minister be offered that opportunity.