Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I share Mr. Bagnell's concerns in a great many ways. I recognize, except for Corporal Graham's testimony, that practically we have a major problem at this point to go ahead and make the audio-videotaping mandatory.
I just want to make these points. One, I have thought a fair amount about this over the last two weeks, because it's been over that period of time when we began to hear evidence about the additional benefit we would derive within the criminal justice system if we could videotape both the assessments for the purpose of identifying whether a person is impaired by drugs but also with regard to the same impairment because of alcohol.
Mr. Bagnell's point about reducing the cost within the criminal justice system by reducing the number of trials is extremely well taken. I think videotaping would go some distance to doing that. Many of us who have the experience of seeing videotapes, whether in the civil or criminal setting, know how effective they are in trials. I'm not quite sure why judges and juries believe in videotapes more than they do eyewitnesses, but they do, Mr. Chair. That's just the reality.
The other point I want to make, and I suppose I'm making this to the Justice officials, is that practically, at some point, we will be able to effectively videotape at relatively minimal cost, because we're going to keep increasing the use of videotaping in the police stations around the country. At that stage, it seems to me it would behoove the government, whichever one it is at that time, Mr. Chair, to pass regulations requiring videotaping.
Having made those points, I'll be supporting the amendment. Thank you.