In fact, we've had a long-term interest in the issue and in the bill. We have been working in particular with one a lady from British Columbia whose daughter has been missing for a number of years. She's been very vocal on this issue. We've worked with your predecessor, Mr. Lunn, who introduced a similar bill in the previous Parliament.
We did a study for the Department of Justice on families with unsolved homicides, and in some of those cases there were loved ones who were never found, although foul play was suspected, and the toll is just tremendous, especially on parents.
I know there were privacy concerns raised. My understanding is that the DNA missing person's index, or whatever the appropriate term is, was going to be included in the first round of the DNA data bank back in 2000, but there were some concerns raised by women's groups about the privacy of potential clients who might be fleeing abusive relationships. I think those are fair concerns. I think we can probably address both. What we're really talking about from our perspective is the parents of missing children who come in and give their DNA—or the DNA of their child, if they have a brush or some hair or something—which can be compared with an index or database of unidentified human remains in coroners' offices.
So I think there's a way to balance those privacy interests, so that if police were to find someone alive and well and living in B.C. and who doesn't want their loved ones...then maybe there's a way to speak to them first before letting people know. I think there are ways to deal with those issues, but given the comfort that some families might get from knowing what happened, it is definitely worth proceeding with.