Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am not a lawyer, nor am I a constitutional lawyer. I cannot give you my professional opinion on the constitutionality of those clauses of the bill.
When I read it, I saw it as an expression of the intentions of the federal Parliament, the Parliament of Canada, in a specific area—the environment—which is an area of shared jurisdiction with the provinces. I didn't see any legal obligations for the provinces in there, nor did I see the bill as interfering in areas of jurisdiction that are clearly theirs under the Constitution. As far as I'm concerned, it is more an expression of the will of the federal Parliament in an area of shared jurisdiction with the provinces. However, there are lawyers at the table here; you are probably a lawyer yourself. I, however, am not.