I think we can assume, then, that he has yet to decide whether an offence is yet to be committed. That's one hurdle we have to get past.
Second, if he does believe that, then the commissioner “may” refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions, because he goes through his own test, I presume, whereby if he has no idea that this could ever be successfully prosecuted or that it's in the best interests of Canadians, he may decide that in his own opinion an offence has occurred but he's not going to submit it to your office.
And then third, you have to decide, through those same tests, I suppose, whether it warrants prosecution.
We're still three fundamental steps away from trying the Conservative Party for election finance violations. My worry is that we're only now convicting and prosecuting and putting in jail Liberals who were involved with the sponsorship scandal, and this is three or four years later.
My question is about timeframes. With a complex case like this, what would be a realistic timeframe, once you get it into your hands and decide that yes, it's worthy of prosecution? Given the court agendas today, could it be a year before it's heard, or eighteen months, or two years?
We've seen the way witnesses disappear too. It could be that you'll have a very uncooperative group of witnesses, as in those Hells Angels trials where witnesses are disappearing all the time. Those 11 principal actors of the Conservative Party who snubbed their noses at our summonses may in fact snub their noses at summonses issued by the federal courts too.
Could you give me, in your professional opinion, a realistic timeframe for a complex prosecution like the one you may be asked to undertake?