Thank you, Brian, for that very difficult question; I appreciate it--especially its length.
Look, the Criminal Code of Canada of course is not a collection agency mechanism. Having the element of restitution within the bill arguably creates some redundancy, because the restitution provisions are already there in the Criminal Code and the judge can use them. But I don't think it hurts to have it there as something that a judge can consider. I'm not looking at this as an academic, and I'm not representing the elaborate and well-researched views of the Canadian Bar. I'm looking at this from the point of view of victims' rights in the federal legislation and the Criminal Code.
While we are not doing a full revision of the Criminal Code, all the laws we have—Bill C-52, the Criminal Code, and its various amendments—are supposed to be a codification of community values. We might have to do this piecemeal, failing a full revision of the Criminal Code, with some emphasis on victims' rights.
Having it in there might lend some clarity to a judge's consideration in sentencing. According to my colleague from the Canadian Bar, if they can make restitution, they certainly will. So having it in there may affect the judge's views on sentencing.
I believe that Bill C-52 is a good start, but I also believe that it is an offer of partnership to the provinces. The civil forfeiture act that we envisage enacting in New Brunswick will allow us, where Bill C-52 fails, to go after these tools of crime. Sometimes it's a home; sometimes it's a larger property like an office building. Other tools include the mechanisms that they use, even the bank accounts. Whatever moneys are available could be tools of crime.
So it's a partnership, and I think it's a reasonably good start. It's not perfect, though, and we're doing things piecemeal.