Not necessarily. I'm a labour lawyer, so believe you me, I will defer to their great minds.
Before asking you some questions, I would like to make some observations. I was pleased to hear Professor Dodek say that there is a glaring contradiction in what is going on at the moment, even without the constitutional arguments and the ego. Our committee has received the mandate to consider two clauses in a budget bill dealing with the Supreme Court of Canada. We received that mandate from the Standing Committee on Finance, to which we in no way report.
This way of doing things is fundamentally worrisome because the very most we could do is make a few recommendations, if there is anything to recommend, to the Standing Committee on Finance. This way of doing things concerns me greatly. It is not the first time it has happened. I think that it is the second time I have been faced with this situation since I was elected in 2011. As a lawyer, I find it disturbing that people are trying to find a back-door solution to a situation for which they are responsible.
Now I will put my questions to the witnesses.
You probably know more about this matter than we do. According to section 6, at least three positions have to be occupied by judges from Quebec. To your knowledge, have any of the positions ever previously been occupied by a Federal Court judge, either from the Federal Court itself or the Federal Court of Appeal?
Either of the witnesses can answer.