Justice  Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the question. As she knows, yesterday, I reiterated in the House and elsewhere that this is a delicate issue. As Attorney General of Canada, I cannot comment on a subject that could have an impact on a matter that is before the courts, as this one is.

Justice  Madam Speaker, as the hon. member full well knows, matters of solicitor-client privilege are exceptionally complex, particularly in this sort of case. We are working to try to find a way such that the former attorney general can in fact speak. We are doing our level best to do that.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. He asked the same thing in committee today. The answer is the same. As Attorney General of Canada, I cannot comment, as that would have an impact on the legal proceedings currently under way.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, it is important to understand that my role as the Attorney General of Canada is to protect Canada's legal institutions and that is what I am going to do. That is my top priority as Attorney General. One of those institutions is the protection of litigation. Litigation privilege is very important.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, as Attorney General for Canada, I will not answer a legal question or give a legal opinion on the floor of the House of Commons.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, as I said a number of times in the House and before the committee earlier today, the question of privilege, in the words of the former attorney general, is complex and multi-layered. We are doing our best. The committee is doing its work. We are doing our best to study that question to allow the former attorney general to speak, but we have not yet resolved the issue.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, as I explained at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, the question of solicitor-client privilege is complex. We want to be transparent. That is why we are working hard to get an answer so the former minister can have her say.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, as Attorney General of Canada, I am going to defend the principles of cabinet privilege, cabinet confidence, as well as solicitor-client privilege. One cannot just cherry-pick when it is convenient to let that go. When the question was asked of me this morning, the answer to the question was that it was covered by cabinet confidence.

Justice committee  —and, Mr. Rankin, I am here.

Justice committee  I can't confirm that any of those meetings took—

Justice committee  I can't confirm that any of those meetings took place, let alone speculate about what the content of those meetings might have been.

Justice committee  He has the powers that are set out in the act. The correct answer is that the powers are set out in the act.

Justice committee  There are interpretations of the act. I am not going to comment on the interpretations of the act, because this may lessen litigation privilege and have consequences on the actual litigation between SNC-Lavalin and the...

Justice committee  I am not going to give an opinion. I will say that the act exists.

Justice committee  I cannot give an opinion or interpret the act. I just want to point out that such a law exists.