Public Accounts committee  We've also grouped in terms of counting numbers of fees. We've grouped a lot of access to information fees within one category. That would be across a number of different departments. We can provide a list, which I think we—

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, the answer to that question is yes, we did obtain independent legal advice. For the interest of the member, we have our own lawyers on staff, who advised us carefully in the performance of this chapter and in the interpretation of the legislation and how it was to be applied.

Public Accounts committee  Clearly, that is not an easy question to answer. One way is to simply try to do some type of benchmarking that may be present in other jurisdictions, whether they be domestic or international, to see if similar fees are charged and what those fees may be. That's one way of looking at determining a value-based fee that is, as you say, somewhat intangible in terms of trying to determine how to approach it.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, that refers to a decision called the Connaught decision. It's a particular case that was recently ruled on by the Supreme Court of Canada. It's an obviously long decision, but to try to simplify, for any fees found to be part of a “regulatory scheme”--that is the phrasing used--the fees cannot exceed the cost of providing that regulatory scheme.

Public Accounts committee  If I can just point something out, as far as the department is concerned, market value and cost are just two of the factors that must be taken into account when establishing fees. Mr. Timmins mentioned some guidelines that must be followed, but the department must also consider the other factors listed in the report.

Public Accounts committee  In respect to the first question, about whether or not it would be covered by provincial legislation, we did not examine that particular aspect in the performance of our audit work, so I would not know whether or not a provincial plan would cover such a cost. The fee itself is $5 for a gram of dried marijuana or $20 for a pack of 30 seeds.

Public Accounts committee  In the case of the medical marijuana fee, what would have happened in that particular case is that the department would have needed to get the fee set very quickly to respond to an increasing demand that there be a safe source for that particular product. It was that situation that dictated that they respond or have a mechanism to respond very quickly, and contract was the easiest way in which to do so at the time.