Thank you.
Thank you very much for giving us an opportunity to be heard today.
My name is Ron MacDonald. I come before you today as a representative of the Nova Scotia government, in my capacity as criminal law policy adviser, but also as a person who was 24 years on the front lines as defence and then crown counsel. In particular, I worked for 17 years in a small community in Nova Scotia at the very front line of justice in a way that allowed me to deal with young people, not simply in court, but I could see them the next day, the next week, the next two months on the streets, and you could see the results of what you did or didn't do in court. It's a very instructive way to learn about the justice system. I quite frankly, quite literally, one day could be doing a murder case, and the next day prosecuting youths for underage drinking.
We've heard from Justice Nunn this morning, and he talked about his inquiry, which came about as a result of Ms. McEvoy's death in 2004. Just a little more detail on that inquiry: it was heard over 32 days, heard from 47 witnesses, and heard three more by way of written statements. He heard from front-line crowns and defence, academic and practice experts, court administrators, the police, policy advisers, etc. We believe that his inquiry was one of the most comprehensive studies of youth justice ever done.