You were not.
I wholeheartedly endorse your comment. It's not as if we haven't asked, but it seems to me that we've heard a number of times now that there were people who were not in the discussions, or the consultation process in each province, who should have been, like you.
We've also heard from people who were part of the consultations. One said just recently—and maybe you were in the room—that she didn't hear a person speak against the way the YCJA was working.
So I think it behoves us as members of the committee—and you will recall people asking the minister and members for a report on those consultations—to drive that point more strongly. I thank you for echoing those concerns.
My question is the following. The YCJA is working adequately. What this bill does, however, is it seeks on its face to address some of that act's shortcomings in a positive way, changes most of us agree with. The government, in perhaps over-reaching, to use my term, seeks to put a little philosophy in there that perhaps we on this side disagree with. To use the phrase “throw the baby out with the bath water”, what I fear is that we will throw the whole thing out and not achieve some meaningful amendments, or the whole thing will come in and do some irreparable harm in some regard.
I'll zero in on one very specific part of this, because we've had a longer debate on some of the deeper issues. I'd be very interested in your comments on the publication ban. Your group obviously cares very much about youth, but there is this element of protection of the public, and we heard that in some cases there ought to be a lifting of the publication ban.
Do you think that if the wording were a little more specific around “violent” and “serious” offences involving repeat offenders, even though they are youth, and if we still have that stopgap of judicial discretion, that would be effective?