Thank you, Madam Chair.
It seems obvious to me that, if a chain of command were to be established, the parliamentary secretary would be directly under the minister. It seems to me that this goes without saying.
For all the times we ask a minister to attend a meeting and the minister is unable to attend, should a motion be introduced requiring the chair and clerk to systematically invite the minister's parliamentary secretary in the minister's place?
Between the time we, the members of the committee, agree to receive a minister, and the time we receive the response regarding the minister's availability—or unavailability—time passes. But time is the least of we have here.
In that case, I plan to table a motion for next Thursday and ask that the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities systematically invite the parliamentary secretary of a minister who, for one reason or another, refuses our invitation.