Sure. I agree with Professor West that you need to have paragraph 2(c), plus section 3, but then subsection 17(1) says, “When the Governor in Council believes, on reasonable grounds, that a public order emergency exists and necessitates the taking of special temporary measures”. It seems to me that the issue for cabinet, and the issue that may be explored in that legal opinion, is whether they have reasonable grounds to believe that a public order emergency exists.
My own view is that 2(c) is 2(c). It doesn't mean something different through the Emergencies Act if it's incorporated as it is in the Emergencies Act, whether that is a good idea or not. I think you've heard from me. What I would like to know is how the Attorney General of Canada interpreted that. There is this increasing deference to government decision-makers and expertise. I would like to see how the belief on reasonable grounds in section 17 was interpreted, but I also wish it was Christmas.