—whether it infringes on provincial powers over civil rights. In fact, I have some other constitutional questions about whether it imposes extra penalties on offenders, but I won't try to get you to deal with those today.
When we knew this was coming up, and I knew you were coming to committee, I met with front-line parole officers in my riding and asked them about your bill. They gave me a very interesting perspective. They questioned whether this bill does what you think it does. They said that one part of rehabilitation is for prisoners to learn to take responsibility for their actions and to make responsible decisions themselves. They felt, from what little they knew about this bill, that it in fact took that decision-making out of their hands and made those decisions for them. It would be perceived by the prisoners as an extra penalty rather than as part of what they worked with, as parole officers, to get people to make those responsible decisions to make those payments themselves and see the positive consequences of taking accountability for their actions.
I wonder if you have had that point of view presented to you.