There are two things. One, with the references who we spoke to we really pursued those kinds of issues, but also in the interviews that we did, they were long enough and I think the kinds of questions we asked tried to get at that.
We looked at things like their views on collegiality, which is very important for the court. We looked at what their references said about how they were regarded in their communities by the profession and more broadly.
I suppose, again with more time, one could do more of that, but we certainly cared about that. One of the things about the Supreme Court of Canada is if you can't work with other people, it's very destructive. It's not that you want groupthink—you want people who bring a strong point of view—but if in a decision there are a lot of different judgments, that's chaos for the courts and the people below, as you well know, who have to rely on that. This is the architecture of the law, so that ability....
One of the things I would say about Justice Rowe is when we asked him this question, he gave a very interesting answer. He serves on an appellate court, so of course, his experience is very real. He said, and I hope I am allowed to say this because he'll probably repeat it if you ask him, “I know what the issue is. It's important to me and I am prepared to put a lot of water in my wine, and I have no pride of authorship.” I thought that's a very interesting and constructive philosophy for an appellate court judge who has to sit with others to have.... It bodes well for the ability to help to create the kinds of judgments that will give security and clarity to those of you who are practising and need to know what the law is.