Mr. Chair, just to be clear, no stakeholders have been told by the minister's office not to engage with parliamentarians or appear before a committee. We are always open to engaging with stakeholders directly at the department, but no such thing has ever been said to any stakeholder. In fact, it is the prerogative of the member for Carleton to invite whomever he wants to committee. He invited Jason Kenney, and we were happy to welcome Jason Kenney to the finance committee. The department and the minister's office would not discourage stakeholders from engaging with parliamentarians, and it has not been done.
In the House of Commons on May 22nd, 2018. See this statement in context.