Thank you.
Another question that I have for you is one that I put to the minister himself.
I know that at the Senate, when the Senate conducted their hearings and heard witnesses on this particular bill, a number of the witnesses--the John Howard Society, and there may have been the Elizabeth Fry Society as well--talked about how the process for an inmate to actually compile all of the documentation required to accompany an application for a judicial review to determine whether it should or should not be put before a jury comprised of members of the community where the murder took place can be very laborious, time-consuming, and lengthy. There was a suggestion in regard to the 90-day delay that there be some discretion built in so that a judge, on request, for extenuating and exceptional circumstances, should the legislation go through, would be allowed to extend the 90 days to a maximum of say a further 90 days, which would mean a maximum of six months.
It took a while to get a clear answer from the minister, but it became very clear finally that no, the minister would not even support such an amendment that would allow a judge's discretion in exceptional circumstances and that the exceptional circumstances could actually be defined in the amendment to the Criminal Code.
Have you or anyone in your organization ever been involved in assisting an inmate to prepare an application under the faint hope clause?