Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I have been aware of the scope of this problem since 2015. That said, I think a clarification needs to be made.
The clerk could confirm this, but it seems to me that we agreed with Minister Hajdu for her to appear before the committee in the fall. This is what Mr. Williamson told us at the committee's last meeting. Even if it is not usual for the Standing Committee on Public Accounts to hear from ministers, it has already been done. Ms. Hajdu appeared before us. Normally, on this committee, we hear from deputy ministers, since we oversee the concrete implementation of policies and programs. Minister Hajdu came to see us because of the magnitude of the problem.
This is where I would like to make a clarification, in terms of the government's commitment to resolving the issue of drinking water advisories. We have seen progress in this regard, and it is important to recognize that. What is even more important is to understand what factors have enabled this progress and what obstacles, such as lack of resources, still stand in the way of 100% elimination of the advisory problem.
I fully understand our colleague's frustration and the desire to hear from ministers at the committee. However, I believe that this process is already under way. If this motion is simply to formally emphasize that the Committee considers this as important, it will set a very interesting precedent for years to come. When there is a problem of this magnitude, almost systemic, that really needs political change to be resolved, no government will be able to say that it is up to civil servants to sort it out, not ministers.
The only thing I would like to point out is that the request to appear has already been made and, from what committee chairman Williamson told us last week, we now only need to sort out scheduling conflicts.
Madam Chair, I would like the clerk to tell us what the current status of the invitations is.