Thank you, Madam Chair, and I want to thank the witnesses who took time to be here today.
I know, Mr. Gaudet, that the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has been active in bringing this issue along.
And, Ms. Rosenfeldt, I know the minister referenced you in the House for the work you've done and the attention you've brought to this issue.
Mr. Gaudet mentioned how quickly this has moved. I think it could have moved even more quickly. On March 26 we heard reports in the media that Mr. Olson was getting a pension. Minister Finley made comments in question period that same day that she would bring forward a bill. It wasn't till June 1 that the bill was introduced, and then the House recessed and we went into summer.
Our critic on this issue, Judy Sgro, had indicated well before that we were prepared to move it along. In fact, in her speech when this eventually did come to the House, she said:
Despite our often fierce partisan differences, today we are looking at an issue that I believe should unite all of us, regardless of our political affiliations.
... With that in mind, I intend to keep my remarks brief today because I believe we should all work together to forward the bill to committee....
That is where we are today.
So we want to deal with this as quickly as we possibly can, but we also want to make sure that in the process of dealing with the Clifford Olsons, there aren't some unforeseen circumstances with people who have made mistakes and are paying for those mistakes but may have spouses or family members who would also be severely hurt by this.
I guess my first question would be to you, Mr. Gaudet, and that is on the issue of the provinces. I note that you've done some work on this too. I think you've been urging people to contact the provinces to sign onto this bill. We heard recently that a number of provinces had signed on, but some had not.
Can you give us an update on where the provinces are in terms of cooperating with this specific bill?