Thank you very much, colleagues and Mr. Chair.
I know that you can't comment on the constitutionality, but I would ask for your comments as lawyers within the Department of Justice.
We know from Senator Cowan's testimony and from the letter that has just been distributed that the view of the government and of the department is that this is provincial jurisdiction. We know that you're not here to comment on that.
If the bill is passed as it presently stands, without amendment, we heard from Senator Cowan—and I believe it's true—that it is inevitable that there will be a constitutional challenge launched by the insurance industry, and the Department of Justice will be in the uncomfortable situation of appearing in court to defend a bill that it doesn't support.
As a Department of Justice lawyer, with those lawyers reporting to you, do you have any comment on the situation that we will be put into in the event that a bill that the government doesn't support ends up being passed and then you have to defend it in that situation in court?