Public Safety committee  That is one of the details that seem a bit vague in the bill. But again, I think it's capable of being administered by the correctional service. How does it get from their hands to the victim to the province—

Public Safety committee  Well, these are amounts that, in a way, have been through the court in the first place. These are amounts owing to other people. So take for example a restitution order that a victim is awarded. The victim could enter that order in a civil court and that would be a judgment they could execute against.

Public Safety committee  I'm sorry if I appear to be very unhelpful in answering all these questions, but I really cannot speak for the burdens that this would place on the Correctional Service of Canada.

Public Safety committee  That's a very good question. I think victims would welcome this bill because of the intention behind it, even if it didn't result in their receiving any money at the end of the day. Victims of crime generally want to see accountability from offenders, and this certainly advances goals of accountability.

Public Safety committee  I couldn't comment. I don't feel familiar enough with the whole Correctional Service of Canada modus operandi or the impact of this bill. Just to reiterate my previous comments, it certainly does appear to be a step in the direction that victims of crime have been noting for many years.

Public Safety committee  I'm not sure that would sort out the ambiguity because there isn't any ambiguity in terms of the amount that is owed with respect to a surcharge, restitution of family law order, and so on. Those amounts have already been determined. If a court is then awarding an amount to an offender because there has been some loss or damage to that offender, that amount has already been determined by a court.

Public Safety committee  Certainly, that's an issue your committee may want to consider.

Public Safety committee  My reference to a shortcut was that it might result in the victim collecting an award that they otherwise would be waiting a long time to collect. The sentence imposed on the offender can include restitution. It's not awarded in the majority of cases, but it's awarded in some cases for what's referred to as reasonably ascertainable losses.

Public Safety committee  When we're talking about restitution, there are two different routes that can be followed. Some offenders are ordered to pay restitution, or they volunteer to pay restitution as part of a probation order. When that's the case, the probation is monitored. If restitution is still not paid at the end of their probation order, the victim can transfer that order into what we call a stand-alone restitution order, and they can file and enforce it as a civil judgment.

Public Safety committee  I should backtrack to the sentencing process. In many cases, in order to mitigate the sentence, an offender who can pay in situations where damages or losses have been suffered and restitution is a logical sentence, will voluntarily indicate that they would like to make restitution.

Public Safety committee  Sorry. So where restitution is ordered by a court, as I say, if it's not paid—and sometimes there are terms and conditions, a payment schedule for restitution—then it's up to the victim to take steps to enforce it. They file it with the civil courts and they can use civil remedies to seek to get the money, but it is their responsibility.

Public Safety committee  That's correct.