As for the creation of the position of Director of Public Prosecutions, we examined everything that was being done outside Canada and even within Canada, in the case of certain provinces, during the drafting and writing of the bill. We looked into the situation in the United Kingdom and Wales, in a number of Australian states, in New Zealand and in Ireland.
In the United States, they have what's called a special prosecutor. He is appointed for specific purposes, in the context of a particular case that has previously been the subject of a priority review by the Attorney General. This special prosecutor's duties are limited to the specific circumstances in which he is asked to investigate. On the other hand, the Director of Public Prosecutions handles all cases that are subject to criminal investigation conducted by the police and that are followed by the laying of charges. So these are two quite different offices.
The Attorney General of Canada, as well as any provincial attorney general, may ask a special attorney to handle a case. That's not prohibited. In Quebec, this may happen in the context of an investigation in which the person concerned was too close to the institution of the Attorney General. The two entities must be separated.
The United States does not have a director of public prosecutions. We therefore drew on what has been done in Nova Scotia, Quebec and, to a certain degree, British Columbia, but especially on what exists in most of the Commonwealth countries.