Madam Speaker, I served on justice committee in the last Parliament and learned quite a bit about how our system fits in, so I was quite interested in what the member had to say.
I am also fascinated that he chose the Shawcross principle and conveyed it also with the sub judice aspect, simply because he is arguing that there needs to be a strong differentiation to ensure that people have equality under the law.
That is absolutely true. However, the Prime Minister and his staff and, I would even gather, the Privy Council clerk decided, unsolicited, to try to change the mind of the former attorney general. The member is absolutely right that the Shawcross principle allows for the AG to consult, which means to ask for input, but it does not work the other way around, whereby they could suddenly say they want to talk to her and want to influence the situation.
Is the member concerned about keeping the protections of the equality of law and the rule of law by separating the legislative and the executive branches from the judicial branch? My concern is that the Prime Minister and his staff have interfered with that process and now are undermining the rule of law.