Thank you, Mr. Green.
I had put my own name on the list.
Does someone else wish to speak? Ms. Bendayan do you want the floor?
I'm therefore going to speak briefly, and then it will be Ms. Bendayan's turn.
Ms. Boniface, I want to draw your attention to the fact that there's a translation error in your document. In English, you say:
“information the committee can access from witnesses”.
However, in French, you say: "quels renseignements peut consulter le Comité au sujet des témoins".
The passage "renseignements au sujet des témoins" does not mean "information we obtain from witnesses" at all. I think that correction has to be made before studying this motion.
With that said, Senator, I believe I understand from this motion that you are asking for a joint opinion. That is a way of forcing the two law clerks and parliamentary counsel to reconcile their opinions, if necessary, when, in reality, it might benefit the committee to have two opinions. So if one of the law clerks and parliamentary counsel wanted to qualify something, he should be free to do so; he should not be obliged to stifle his reservations or qualifications for the purposes of a joint opinion.
First, there is the correction to be made to the French. Second, it seems to me to be wiser for the committee to have two opinions rather than one joint opinion.
And last, I am also wondering whether, for the entire exercise, it is useful to debate that now, since we don't yet know what information we're going to get. Once the witnesses have produced documents or we know part of the information, we will be able to ask the law clerks and parliamentary counsel whether or not that information is confidential. For that reason, at this point, I wonder whether we aren't going a bit too fast.
Those are the three comments I wanted to submit to the committee, the most urgent to be considered being the French translation. Of course, if we have to decide on the motion, it's important that we all be deciding on the same thing. At present, I would say that the passage that concerns me in the French version makes no sense. I don't see how the law clerks and parliamentary counsel could tell me what information to consult about the witnesses. I can go to Google to find out who a particular witness is. That's something else entirely.
Ms. Bendayan, the floor is yours.