I'd be pleased to respond to that.
First of all, putting it into context, for very good public policy reasons we empower our police forces with a whole host of different rights and duties--arrest, seizure, things of that nature. So the court system often oversees the police in terms of the exercise of those duties and responsibilities. So the police are in a very unique position in terms of their relationship with the courts. I think Canadians as a group, respecting police as they do, also want to know there are reasonable limitations being placed on the exercise of those duties and responsibilities. So the relationship of the police with the courts is very unique in Canadian society.
In terms of the Canadian Bar Association's approach, what we do is represent a broad base of lawyers and a broad base of views. When we make submissions to this committee or to any other committee, we are doing that on the basis of policy and consultation with a wide range of people within our organization.
As a former Minister of Justice publicly stated within the last couple of years, when we heard from the Canadian Bar Association, we were concerned about whether we were going to be getting a pat on the back or a slap on the head. We do try to bring a balanced approach, an informed approach, to any submissions we make. We also make sure that we are hearing from a broad base of constituents within our organization before bringing forward recommendations on legislation, whether it be the Competition Act or criminal justice reform.