Public Safety committee  Yes, we're calling for both of those things. This committee heard from Justice Major and one of the criticisms and one of the difficulties arose, for example, when CSIS was hived off from the RCMP leading up to the investigation of Air India. CSIS was in possession of lots of inf

Public Safety committee  That was a comprehensive answer. I mean, it's a 55-page report with 23 recommendations. There are portions of the bill that we support, that we think are good initiatives—measured—but there are other portions, which Peter has pointed out, that we think are very clearly unconstit

Public Safety committee  Good evening, Mr. Chair, Mr. Clerk, and committee members. We are grateful for the opportunity to appear before this committee this evening. As you know, the CBA is a national association of over 36,000 lawyers, law students, notaries, and academics. I am pleased that our presid

Justice committee  The community impact statement hasn't necessarily been a focus for us. I think there are questions about how to identify what the community is and who will be the community spokesperson. Are we talking about the neighbourhood community Block Watch? Are we talking about the city?

Justice committee  It's hard to deny that crime within a particular community, especially high-profile, very violent crime, has an impact not only on the immediate victims and their families but also on Canadians' sense of safety within their own communities and that kind of thing. For the partic

Justice committee  I think what you're referring to in our submission is a reference to a small notation on the standard form that's recommended in the bill. This portion of the form essentially says that with the permission of the judge, the victim can comment on the type of sentence the person sh

Justice committee  Not really. I'm intimately familiar with the Vancouver case. It was lawyers from our defence team in the Air India case who argued that case. It's a case that really doesn't have anything to do with what's proposed in this bill. It has to do with terrorism offences, and the inves

Justice committee  I'll defer to my learned friend.

Justice committee  I agree with my friend. When we're talking about clause 20, we need to understand—at least in my view of it, which comes from some of the concerns that were expressed early on in the process and during the consultations—that you have to recognize the fundamental pillars of the

Justice committee  Maybe I'll only say the following. At some of the consultations that I attended, education of all of those involved in the justice system—the police, prosecutors, defence counsel, even judges—was something that was asked for by many victims' groups around the table. The other th

Justice committee  Yes: the two Erics. Madame Boivin, there are a couple of answers to that, I think. On its face, I think this provision has a lot to recommend it. From my own experience, and participating in consultations with the minister, one of the main criticisms from many victims is the lac

Justice committee  Well, listen, lawyers are always going to argue about words. Those principles are present in the sentencing sections. There are two distinct concepts in proposed paragraph 718.2(e). One is the principle of restraint generally. The other is the impact of the sentence on aboriginal

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members. It's a privilege for me to appear before this committee once again. In my testimony today I hope I can bring a broad perspective to the discussion. As Ms. Schellenberg mentioned, I primarily work as a criminal defence lawyer in Vancouv