Thank you, Mr. Minister.
I want to ask a question that I think goes to one of the core charter issues in this legislation. I think it's a core issue. It goes something like this.
By the way, thank you for not reading your speech word for word and for dispensing with the repetition of the Tackling Violent Crime Act, which was getting a little bit Orwellian there for a while. Good decision. You'll have to get a new speech writer, though.
Here is the issue. It's purely technical, but here it is. The right to remain silent is a principle of fundamental justice protected by the charter. The question is, does the right to remain silent extend through the trial phase and into the sentencing part of a trial?