I address this to my colleagues. My apologies to our witnesses here today.
Concerning the issue we're dealing with later on with the motion of Madame Bourgeois, I have a couple of concerns. I would ask for your indulgence on this.
The fact is that our committee role is really oversight and not necessarily to make specific decisions on policy, under the practices. There is the possibility that this decision we make could or could not be in the best interests of the crown or of the taxpayer, and there could even be a potential for not only a loss, but maybe even civil liability back to the crown, due to the fact of our having an ongoing thing.
Regardless, I would ask that we obtain legal counsel here today prior to our vote on the motion, just asking for the House's legal opinion on this matter, if they're available to come.
We don't want to put this off. We want to have a decision today and we're quite free to roll with whatever decision we take. But I think this is a fail-safe that could be in place and could ensure that we're not about to do something that might not be in the best interests of the crown, the taxpayers, and/or third parties.
I would ask for your thoughts.