Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Thank you for coming and giving evidence here, your témoignage.
It's important for us as Canadians to understand where this new government's coming from, and I'll put the cards on the table as far as the politicization of the Law Commission is concerned. The Law Commission seems to go in and out with the switch in Liberal and Conservative governments. The Law Reform Commission was a Liberal creation ended by the Mulroney Conservatives, and the Law Commission was a Chrétien device terminated by the Conservatives.
I'll leave that obvious political angle aside and ask you three basic questions.
One is, do you think our international marquee ability to be a leader in justice issues is damaged by the fact that in western democracies we would be alone now, aside from the United States perhaps, in not having an independent advice vehicle?
The second question is central. Will the work the Law Commission does and has done in the past be done by others? You rightly point out that it contracted its services to law experts, many of whom are on the faculties of our law schools. The question might be, did you consult with the deans of the law schools across Canada to determine whether this independent research on many areas of law is needed? I can cite the six that were being worked on: globalization, indigenous peoples, policing, etc. You mentioned some of them in your remarks. How sure are we that the law schools, which seem to be the only ones standing in this regard, will have the capacity to do that if they're not getting the funding from the Law Commission?
By argument, I say to you that the CBA is off the list of people who might do your research, because I'm sure you saw the letter in which they said they were taken by surprise to hear that the CBA, the Canadian Bar Association, could fulfill this role. I argue with you that the Department of Justice, which in many cases is making laws that are going to be contested by the independent research that might be needed in various areas.... I question whether the Department of Justice is the resource centre for this type of independent research; that's what it is, independent research.
With all respect, I throw out what I say is your red herring, that only once in 10 years did the government ask for a study. That's precisely the point, isn't it? This is supposed to be independent advice on important subjects drawn from the best experts, and not necessarily advice that you would ask for as Attorney General, or I would ask for as an opposition justice committee member. The indigenous peoples, which my friend Mr. Bagnell's going to get more into, is a very good case in point. Who's going to ask for that research? I sure as heck think it's not going to be the Canadian Tax Foundation or the Canadian Bankers Association. I put that to you in a somewhat argumentative way.
In short, is our international presence damaged by your decision to cut out the Law Commission? Will its work be done by other assets in the community, given that there's no money now for legal research in the universities, and finally, by whom? With the CBA and the government, the CBA is out of the question, and the government really can't be researching its own laws.