Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ultimately, I think what I will be proposing is that we adjourn this debate. I think that perhaps this is premature, based on what I'm hearing from committee members.
I just want to add this commentary. For the lawyers on this committee, there is such a thing as bias, and there's the reasonable apprehension of bias. No one on the Conservative team is impugning the integrity and the professionalism of the federal civil service, but ultimately, depending on how we frame this study and the scope of the study, we may be getting into areas that directly relate to the advice that legal counsel gave to the government.
In that instance, it would be highly, highly inappropriate, because it would be an actual perception of bias to consider the independence of that type of evidence for the purposes of this committee. I think that in those circumstances it would be a wise, prudent move to consider outside counsel.