Mr. Speaker, I will not acknowledge that there is a significant body of legal opinion to that effect.
I will acknowledge that the Department of Justice, which lost at trial and lost unanimously in the Supreme Court of Canada, is of that view. I will acknowledge that it lost its case in the Alberta Court of Appeal. I will acknowledge that a week or so ago Justice Perell in the Ontario Superior Court also rejected the Department of Justice's view.
I will say that the Canadian Bar Association, the Barreau du Québec, Monsieur Ménard, Joseph Arvay, and eminent constitutional scholars from coast to coast have taken this position.
I cannot predict with certainty what a Supreme Court will say, but I am confident I would rather be in their shoes than on the side of the government with its position that does not appear to even have an independent legal opinion behind it.