When we began consultations a number of years ago, we tried to listen to what the concerns were of all jurisdictions and we heard different concerns, depending upon the jurisdiction. Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta typically have a very high rate of applications relative to other jurisdictions. The Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut have a very low rate as a percentage of the number of those types of offenders in their jurisdictions, and when you ask why, you'll see different types of answers.
A lot of it has to do with the resource implications. As the minister has pointed out a number of times, these are extremely resource-intensive. They often last one to two years or longer, and also they're often appealed. A jurisdiction without the resources to manage this will in many cases be scared off these.
We think that because of the combination of the Crown declaration and the reverse onus, there will in fact be a bump in the number of applications, especially in these traditionally non-participatory jurisdictions. As well, you are going to see, even in places such as Ontario and B.C., probably a more aggressive approach when an individual is before the Crown who typically might fit the pattern. They'll be more inclined right from the beginning, I think, to seek the psychiatric assessment, which again is a very expensive process. Resources are very stretched even in the more resource-rich provinces, and until you get that assessment back, you can't be sure whether or not this guy is manageable in the community, and thus you're taking a bit of a risk.
So a big part of this legislation is to take that first step and figure out whether or not the individual merits further consideration.