Agriculture committee  Well, without giving legal advice once again—I'm sorry that I have to take this approach—

Agriculture committee  —“would” sounds like it's more likely than “could”. “Could” sounds like it's not as certain as “would”. It depends on the outcome you want.

Agriculture committee  Of course, there isn't an interpretation that I can give, but the language is pretty consistent with what exists already, “person or thing”. I believe this is what we're discussing, Mr. Chair.

Agriculture committee  This is common language in the Health of Animals Act, “any animal, animal product, animal byproduct or thing”. Consistency is usually recommended.

Agriculture committee  My apologies. I'm not used to the headphones. I've never done this before. As you know, as a government lawyer I'm not permitted to speak to any legal advice that's been issued by the Department of Justice. Of course, you have your own counsel. I'm just pointing this out to say

Agriculture committee  Well, I'm not supposed to give opinions. It might make it easier to enforce, but I think that's something that really needs to be examined by the committee's legal counsel.