Madam Chair, I'm extremely disappointed. We are capable of doing two things at once, like walking and chewing gum. We could have heard from the witnesses today and agreed on Mr. Marques, who was already expected to appear before the committee before the motion was passed at the beginning of the week.
We are currently having a debate on the terms “invite” and “summon” the witness. I repeat that we know the truth: that Mr. Marques did not respond to our request. That is the truth. Since we know that the Minister has already blocked a witness from appearing, it's entirely legitimate for us to demand that the Liberals commit to not blocking Mr. Marques' appearance.
On behalf of Canadians who care about the issue of sexual assault in the Canadian Armed Forces, and for whom it is an important issue, I repeat, we must respect the date we have agreed on for tabling the report. Can we agree that the Liberals will not block Mr. Marques' appearance and that they will respect the timeline for tabling the report?