Already people in the legal community are taking it upon themselves to encourage people to apply. Last year, I remember a number of candidates saying, “I wasn't going to apply, but my colleagues said I ought to.” That makes it a lot easier.
I understand that modesty, and it's not false modesty. It is the appreciation of how significant it is. That's one of the reasons why the confidentiality of the process is so important. It is in some ways an incredibly transparent process. You know how we deal with the applications, and you see the nominees' applications and details.
One of the reasons confidentiality is so important is that some people are shy about having their colleagues know that they have applied. I can tell you one thing; there is certainly no shame in having applied for this process and not been appointed, because all of the candidates were in remarkably good company in terms of being outstanding Canadian figures in the law. That issue is important. That is why we would like to make sure....
I don't think—because there are chief justices and attorneys general out there rustling in the underbrush and trying to convince people to apply—that there's some great star that's been left behind. There may be some people for whom it is just a difficult and uncomfortable process, and they need encouragement.