Thanks, Chair.
I want to point out that we are missing the deputy minister. I appreciate that Mr. Jones is here and I have no doubt he has information that we need, but the law was changed in the last while that makes the deputy minister legally an accounting officer and accountable to this committee.
It's only by exception that we don't let deputies come, because human nature, let's face it, if a deputy can get away with sending somebody else to a meeting that's not going to be a lot of fun, come along. We have a policy that it's only by rare exception, and it's times that people are away, they're travelling, there's an urgency of us getting to this matter, or we do not want to delay.
It does happen, but I want to emphasize the fact that it is a priority, a mandate, an expectation, and a lawful requirement. Unlike when I started here, it's now the law.
Again, I understand in this case we weren't that pointed in our invitation. I'm raising it as a matter of a point of order in the hope that we can get back to the fact that it's deputies we're inviting. Deputies are expected to be here, and by exception, we can hold meetings without them, but in the main, it's the deputies who should be here.
I wanted to point that out, Chair, to ensure that we keep that standard because that's what works best for us.
Thanks.