Yes, and I will be quick.
Thank you, Mr. Minister, for appearing again.
I'd like to ask a question. I, too, am in support of this bill. Our mantra over here is that we want to make sure we have legislation that will work. This may be more of a question for the legal people here, but, Mr. Minister, you glossed over R. v. Rodgers, the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, as being supportive. On the face of it, it is. I actually took the time to read it and then became a little more uncertain about how helpful it will be.
Here's my brief question. That decision came out in April of last year, 2006. Bill C-13, presumably, was drafted and tabled and commenced. I wasn't here, but the train started for Bill C-13 in advance of that. Bill C-18 ratchets up Bill C-13 in a number of areas we've talked about.
Let's review Rodgers for a moment: the person in question was convicted and sentenced to four years for sexual assault, and he committed that offence while he was on probation for a conviction of sexual interference. I know this case happened before the act, and there were a lot of complications, but the bottom line is if anybody should have been subject to a DNA identification order, it was this individual. Yet, it was a four to three decision at the Supreme Court of Canada. It was tight, and that was before Bill C-13 hit the road, because it actually never got passed. And it was before Bill C-18, which ratchets this up a little bit, and which is presumably going to sail through the committee.
I don't want to segue into picking the proclivities of your judges on the Supreme Court, because we're not going to talk about judicial nominations and what they think, but when you have Chief Justice McLachlin, who has been critical of the government, in support of this legislation--by reference to Rodgers, I suggest--as well as having Justices Bastarache, Abella, and Charron--not exactly the right wing of the Supreme Court-- support it, I guess my question is how secure you feel, if the only case you have is Rodgers, that Bill C-18 will pass muster with respect to the discussion of ex parte hearings, and the presumptions, the taking away of judicial discretion implied in all of these issues, and section 8 of the charter? There's a mouthful for you to answer.