If you'd be so kind, Mr. Chair, to cut me off at about four minutes along, I want to pass it to my colleague for roughly the last minute or so.
Mr. Thompson, we appreciate your being here.
I have two quick questions. I'll state my questions right up front, and then you can respond, giving yourself the time you need for both of them.
In this bill, as you well know, there are some legal and constitutional issues around the way powers are structured. In some previous comment or response you did allude to that. Some would suggest it may require some further analysis yet.
First off, I have a question on that. From a legal point of view, have you done some fairly careful analysis of those parts of the bill? Are there other constitutional and jurisdictional issues that you see with the bill? That's my first question.
When you last appeared before our committee, Mr. Thompson, you stated you were reasonably happy with the full review of sustainable development practices that our government has undertaken, which will be reported back in October 2008. The second question simply is this. In your view, is this private member's bill the best way to address sustainable development issues across government?