I would like to be clear about the issue of consultations, since you have probably received this information. In 2010, the government held consultations on the issue of treaties. I am not sure how broad those consultations were. As other witnesses have said, the treaties contained both positive and negative aspects.
With respect to the issue of use that is currently the focus, the recommendation to the government was that there be more discussion. We did not have enough information at the time to be able to take a position. We felt that more discussion was needed, but that did not happen. In November, there was a very brief consultation. It was very limited and dealt only with certain aspects. It did not deal with the overall set of provisions we are seeing today.
So yes, I think that more consultation would have been helpful. As Mr. Eisen mentioned, businesses could have had the opportunity to express their views about the changes being proposed now.