Thank you, Madam Chair.
We did take a look at and consider this language, and we had some discussions with the legislative drafters at the Department of Justice. We were unable to locate a provision in the federal statute book that said that a minister should do something. It's our collective view that the law directs what must be done or the law can permit what otherwise might not be permissible, but the law does not generally make a recommendation, because the law is there to be enforced when it's not followed, and it's not evident how you could enforce something that was just a recommendation about something that a minister should do.
The view of the Department of Justice is that it would be more appropriate and in keeping with the way ministerial consultations and other obligations on ministers are crafted that it be “must, when appropriate, consult”.