Justice committee  I think it can be explained quite simply, Mr. Comartin. First, the budget of the former Federal Prosecution Service—which was part of the Department of Justice—was transferred to our organization. In addition, we were provided in budget 2006 with $15 million in one-time transition costs to pay for accommodations, given that some of our office had to move out of shared space with the Department of Justice, and also for informatics, or information technology.

Justice committee  Yes. As I explained, if you establish a new department and you now have two directors general of human resources, whereas before you had one, there is an increased cost, that's clear.

Justice committee  I'll turn this over to Mr. Fortin in a moment, but let me explain one thing about the ratio. It only applies when there is a federal initiative to add new police officers--the RCMP. When the Ontario Provincial Police or the Toronto city police force adds new police officers, and frequently these police officers are engaged—as you know, in Toronto there's a guns and gangs initiative—we do not get additional resources for that.

Justice committee  We might have additional prosecutions flowing from that. I'd also say that we've noticed that our file caseload over the last couple of years has not increased. It has sort of remained stable in the south, in the southern provinces, but we're finding that in our north, in the northern territories, where we conduct the Criminal Code prosecutions, sadly, the rate has gone up.

Justice committee  Yes, but other officials in government can also give advice, depending on the scope and nature of the inquiry.

Justice committee  I'm told that it's section 15, not section 14. I apologize. Section 10 gives the Attorney General the right to issue a directive, and section 15 gives him the right to assume conduct of the prosecution.

Justice committee  I mentioned two conditions, but there is a third. If an individual is charged by the police, it must be seen whether the offence is within our jurisdiction. If it is a fraud case, for example, that's a prosecution that comes under the provincial government's jurisdiction. Under our act, we have a right to make a final decision regarding prosecutions, except in cases where the Attorney General issues a directive to us under section 10 or section 14, I believe, which gives the Attorney General the right to take control of the prosecution.

Justice committee  But in both cases, the Attorney General must publish the directive in The Canada Gazette.

Justice committee  Yes, that's included in the act.

Justice committee  I'll have no trouble answering the second question: I'm not involved in the selection process. As to the first, you want to know the difference between the old service—

Justice committee  I believe that Minister Toews said when he appeared before the parliamentary committee to discuss the bill that undue interference had not at all been a problem in the old system, but that he wanted to see a new kind of guarantee designed to protect prosecutors applied. In future, if the Attorney General wants to intervene in a case, he will have to do so in a very different manner.

Justice committee  Thank you.

Justice committee  Let me explain why he wouldn't give advice on the mandate. A public inquiry is not a criminal process.

Justice committee  Our mandate is limited to giving advice to investigative agencies in criminal matters. To answer your question, the mandate would be considered by a number of officials within the Department of Justice. They have an assistant deputy attorney general in charge of litigation; they have associate deputy ministers who I assume would have been involved in working on that.

Justice committee  I'll turn over the question on terrorism to Mr. Dolhai, who's an expert in that area. If the legislation says that the consent of the Attorney General is required, it has always been the case that a decision of that nature can be delegated, and it is often taken, for example, by the Deputy Attorney General.