Extraordinary circumstances by their nature are difficult to define, because we don't know what we don't know. We have provided a number of examples in the bill, including a natural disaster or circumstances that imperil the stability of the financial system in Canada. These are intended to communicate the gravity of the situation we are trying to decide. In other words, we mean unpredictable, large-scale types of impact that cannot be previewed and where urgent action is necessary, but the language was drafted to retain flexibility in case something was to occur that we did not anticipate.
On May 18th, 2016. See this statement in context.