Justice committee  Yes. Again, this is a clarification of the law as it already stands. One troublesome thing we're seeing.... We have a case like Morales from 1992—it's been around for a very long time—that says public safety is paramount. However, we see all these other conditions that don't necessarily have to do with public safety, or even primary grounds, as discussed in Pearson, another 1992 Supreme Court of Canada case.

Justice committee  It would, partially. I'll note that case law such as Antic goes further than just what the judge considers necessary. It also goes into noting, as other speakers have alluded to, that the conditions should not punish the accused and should not be there to modify the person's behaviour.

Justice committee  Sure, I can take it. In our written submissions, we outline a proposed amendment to the police releases section on undertakings. I think that one frustration that defence lawyers see is that we can legislate all we want, but without larger cultural shifts, larger systemic changes and attitudinal shifts amongst police officers, we're still seeing that, frankly, what is coming out of the jurisprudence is not necessarily consistent with what's being legislated.

Justice committee  Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you today on behalf of our union, the Society of United Professionals, which represents more than 350 legal aid lawyers in Ontario. Garrett and I are both duty counsel criminal defence lawyers. Today we hope to bring you our perspective as lawyers who work every day on the front lines for vulnerable and low-income accused persons.