Thank you. I may or may not take all of it, in which case I'll defer to other members.
First of all, I was glad to hear mention earlier of the estimate of $2 billion that is lost as a result of identity theft. I know this is not the first time the government has attempted to introduce measures of this nature. I was very glad to hear today the degree of support coming from the opposition side. I can only hope that the support that was expressed this morning will be followed up in the House and that this bill will be passed at the earliest opportunity, without any further delay. I think this bill has some relevance to those who are most vulnerable in our society, particularly seniors and others who are sometimes victimized by identity theft offences.
I'd like to, if I may, focus on a specific clause just for a moment, which is clause 9. I suppose it's a picky little point, but I'd like to understand it. If I'm correct, it appears to deal with the offence of forgery instruments and to amend section 369 by including a section 368.1. It appears one of the major purposes of that is to take a straight indictable offence and hybridize it. This is not the first time that I have seen offences being moved from straight indictable to hybridizing, and my thinking on it is that perhaps there's some recognition that it's easier to prosecute if the prosecution, the crown attorneys, have the opportunity to deal with an offence otherwise than by indictable procedure.
So I would be grateful for comment from the department about whether or not this is a recognized principle. Are we moving to recognize that perhaps hybridizing offences makes them a little easier to prosecute and that this is a good thing? That's where I'll start. Thank you.