Perhaps I'll start, and then I'll ask Ms. Adair to follow up on some of the legal questions embedded in your question.
First of all, I want to say that certainly if an employee in a food processing plant brought to the CFIA's attention matters with respect to food safety or other conduct in the plant, the agency would take very seriously those claims and would follow up in an administrative manner to the best of its ability. I want to assure you that that is the practice when it comes to food processing plants, and of course CFIA officials who are situated in the plants on an ongoing basis are looking after food safety and other regulatory oversight responsibilities, and they therefore enlist the support of employees at the plant and would listen to those legitimate concerns.
With respect to the coverage in the proposed bill, Mr. Chair, I would say that in our view the criminal sanctions are strong. They are robust and are adequate to protect whistle-blowers in the situation the member described, so we're satisfied with the sanctions that are in the Criminal Code that cover this provision. As I mentioned, our view is that the justice system and law enforcement agencies' treatment of whistle-blowing is appropriate, and that it is appropriate that law enforcement officials and justice officials are the ones who administer that whistle-blowing protection.