Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was going to use the same argument.
I have, in my five years here, not had us go through a vetting process of who had actually brought a claim against the crown. There are many different aboriginal organizations and individuals that have claims against the crown. Some have been ongoing for years. I'm sure that this issue will, if the government wants to make it an issue, certainly arise when we deal with specific claims. Almost all specific claims of one sort or another are against the crown, and we're going to be doing a major study on the specific claims tribunal process and large claims. All of these are claims against the crown in one way, shape, or form. Some are in litigation, some are outside of litigation, and some are in various processes.
So I can't see how this would inhibit in any way the privileges of us to ask a specific question. In fact, the onus would be on the witnesses whether they would feel comfortable in answering a specific question and in what manner they chose to answer a specific question from us.
I have no problem with going with an open format, not in camera, and of course I would want to hear from these particular witnesses on this study.