I will continue. I'll try to be brief, Mr. Chair, because I want to get to this.
I think this is much more acceptable than having deputy ministers, with their own vested interests, deciding who will appear before this committee. That's what the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Public Works has said: it's on record that it's more appropriate for deputy ministers to decide who accompanies them at the table than for members of this committee. This is a much better method, and I think we'll get better answers as a result of the committee retaining its capacity to call witnesses who are directly involved in this issue, as opposed to just at the deputy minister level. It was, after all, Mr. Chair, the government--