I would see the need for it not so much in how individual cases are dealt with, but to guarantee that all Canadians receive consular services. That's the important element, because I think what has occurred in recent years is that decisions were made as to whether some Canadians would get the level of consular services that were required by their condition. It's up at that level that we're talking about here.
I can see why the government wants to retain crown prerogative in the area of foreign policy and foreign affairs generally, but consular affairs is a slightly different animal in this area. I think you can remove the element of crown prerogative from consular services but still see it retained in foreign policy generally. I think that's the trouble here: that consular services are confused with foreign policy. They're not necessarily foreign policy. There's a separate international treaty, as you know. The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations is separate from the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, so even in the international community there is a distinction made between the two types of foreign activities.