Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to my colleague, Mr. Dusseault, for putting forward the amendment.
In reading my notes, my understanding on this amendment is I will not be supporting it for a couple of reasons.
First of all, the work of the board is much broader than just on harassment and cultural change, although those are obviously two very important aspects. They are currently two top priorities, but as identified by the RCMP commissioner in her public mandate letter, these issues have been identified, and as indicated, she will seek advice from the board on them.
It is anticipated that the provision in the legislation will outlive the achievement of the RCMP's objectives in those matters. This amendment may not always be relevant to the work undertaken by the board.
Finally, Chair, with regard to the principle involved with legislative drafting interpretation, section 10 of the Interpretation Act states that:
The law shall be considered as always speaking, and where a matter or thing is expressed in the present tense, it shall be applied to the circumstances as they arise, so that effect may be given to the enactment according to its true spirit, intent and meaning.
The proposed amendment by Mr. Dusseault does not reflect those principles, as harassment and culture change challenges are expected to be time-limited.
With that, Mr. Chair, I will be stopping there. That's why I will not be supporting the amendment.