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Joyal said Wilson-Raybould “systematically” refused repeated invitations to testify, even though the committee offered to be flexible on the timing to accommodate the minister’s schedule. The only response it received was that the minister was unavailable, he said.

“We’re having a great deal of difficulty scheduling the minister’s appearance before our committee,” Boisvenu remarked during an Oct. 3 committee meeting. “It’s a habit of hers.”

Unlike the budget bill, on which the committee was under pressure to report by a specific deadline, Joyal said he warned Harder that in the case of the access-to-information bill, the committee would sit on the legislation until it heard from Wilson-Raybould. “No minister, no bill.”

Indeed, he said the committee was on the point of passing a motion to that effect when Wilson-Raybould was shuffled out of the justice portfolio in January. Within two weeks, he said, her successor David Lametti agreed to testify. He is now scheduled to appear on Thursday.

Wilson-Raybould has appeared before the Senate on other bills, notably those on medical assistance in dying and legalization of cannabis. But her selective approach to which bills she chose to defend publicly raises potential questions about cabinet solidarity.

Joyal, who served as a minister in the cabinets of Pierre Trudeau and John Turner, said disagreements are common around the cabinet table. But once a consensus decision is made, every minister is required to stand by it, whether or not he or she personally agrees with it.

In the case of a minister who personally disagrees with a bill that falls under his or her responsibility, Joyal said: “If the decision of the government is to proceed with the bill, you have no choice than to stand by the bill. And if you don’t want to stand by the bill, well, the option is to resign from the portfolio. It’s quite clear.”