I'm sorry that I can't shed more light on why we haven't. I would echo what Mr. Tremblay has said. I'm holding here a copy of a letter that was sent from the minister in response to a submission that our organization, Mr. Tremblay's, and Amnesty International made. It expresses support in principle for the optional protocol, indicates our involvement in ongoing discussions, and indicates that we support the fundamental elements of the optional protocol.
So it seems as though it would be a wonderful thing if this committee could put a little bit of a push on to urge the government to in fact take the next step and sign. As we've said, we would in fact like to see ratification. We don't think it's too difficult to implement in Canada, despite the nature of the federation, as Mr. Tremblay has said. There are mechanisms already in place that could be provided with the authority to pursue those areas. There are very few areas where they may not be. I think we can work on this.