Certainly.
Section 7 of the charter provides that everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of the person, and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with fundamental principles of justice.
The courts have consistently found that a person who is on parole and who has his parole suspended and is returned to prison is thereby jeopardized in terms of his qualified right to liberty. It's not a complete right to liberty. The courts accept that it's a qualified right, but it engages section 7 of the Constitution.
The courts have gone on to ask what the necessary process is, in accordance with fundamental principles of justice, to justify the deprivation of that qualified liberty. The courts have found consistently that it requires a hearing in which the person is present to address the issues of breach of conditions, to provide the board with further information regarding their life under parole, to challenge any incorrect statements made by the parole officer's report, and to enable the board—and this is an important point in the interest of public safety—to fairly and fully decide what is necessary to deal with the risk of that individual in the community. That is a constitutional right to a hearing.
What the bill does is abrogate that right. Thereafter, these reviews will be done by a paper review. The board is now also contemplating moving to a single member conducting this review by changing the regulations. You'll have one member of the board reviewing the case without the presence of the offender and making a potential decision to revoke parole.
I've given examples of individuals who have been out in the community for 20 years without reoffending who, because of concerns about bizarre behaviour and problems in dealing with their parole officer, were in fact suspended and recommended for revocation. In the hearing that I personally attended, that offender would have been sent back to prison because he was suffering from Alzheimer's, potentially to serve many more years in prison. That's the argument.
Perhaps I can finish by saying that there is no justification under section 1 of the charter to infringe upon that right based upon saving $1.6 million a year.