Once again, I do want to acknowledge the movement made by the minister and my colleagues across the way, and the fact that they heard not only from the opposition but from the expert witnesses, the myriad number of them, the concerns that were raised here.
The attempt with this is to actually assist the minister to be able to carry out his role in this so that it is absolutely explicit; it's not just left to his opinion. For example, I never like the word “may” in many situations, because what we're saying is, really, that people are released when no grounds for detention exist, and we've acknowledged that there are in 58.1(a) to (c) and (e), which has already passed, that those are the reasons why you would detain people. But once those reasons don't exist, then you're released. Therefore, in that third sentence “in the Minister's opinion” is not really needed, because what's really needed is to refer back to the reasons they were kept in detention. I think that's a much better way to write language when we're working on a bill.
The other one right at the beginning, to go from “may” to “shall”...I can say that if were a minister, I would want that to read “shall”, because if we've said the only reasons we're going to keep people in detention are these four reasons, then it's my responsibility to make sure that they are released. I think the word “shall” captures what I believe was the intent, which is not to detain people once the reasons as stipulated in 58.1(a) to (c) and (e) no longer exist.
Once again, Chair, we are supporting this amendment, though we are fundamentally opposed to the motivation and also to the reasons behind this piece of legislation, and we are opposed to designating foreign nationals into two tiers, and we are also opposed to mandatory detentions. However, we do realize and acknowledge that when people arrive without identity, there is the need to establish identity, to verify and to ensure that 58.1(a) to (c) and (e) are met.
So those are the changes we're seeking. I would really like to go for lunch with my colleagues across the way having supported at least one of our amendments unanimously, as we have been so generous and supported theirs. When they make a move in the right direction, we want to acknowledge that. I'm hoping my colleagues will do the same.