Good afternoon, and thanks for letting me be here. I just found out yesterday that I was going to be here, so I don't have anything prepared. I don't have facts and figures. I can only speak personally.
When this started for me 29 years ago, we weren't in the process of anything. If this hearing had been 30 years ago, we wouldn't be here, yet the other side seems to have representation forever. It's getting better, but we're still behind.
I've been to three parole hearings for Clifford Olson, and in each one he's made a mockery of the justice system. Each time, the first thing he has said is, “Nobody in their right mind would let me out”, and yet we have to go through it over and over and over again for no apparent reason.
I think this bill is long overdue. Giving the judges more discretion is a good thing, as Sharon said. I have to agree with everything she said, of course.
I think we have a right, as survivors, to attempt to put our lives back together again, and it just hasn't happened. Obviously Clifford Olson is an extreme case, but there are others like him, and there will be others like him in the future. The people who come after us have to be protected, and this is one way to do it.
I think that's all I have to say. Thank you.