With all due respect to my colleagues, Maître Ménard, Maître Lemay, and Maître Comartin, I cannot agree with them. Any judge or crown prosecutor who takes his or her responsibilities seriously would in fact make a sentencing case as to which digital networks should be included in any order in the sentencing. Even where an individual represents himself or herself...and I'm not sure that in 80% of criminal trials the accused defends himself or herself. I'd like to see that particular figure. I do understand that in civil cases we have a high percentage. But I would like to see that figure. That's a separate argument.
Let's say an individual is in the situation that Mr. Ménard is talking about. You're a taxi driver and you may become a truck driver. From there, you may become a delivery guy for some mining company or other transport company. I cannot believe that an individual would not be in a position, when it came to sentencing, to explain to the judge, “I need to be able to communicate on this because I'm a taxi driver and, by the way, I also have my licence to drive heavy trucks, so that may be a secondary employment for me”.
But any judge.... I mean, Maître Ménard has been in positions of authority in the past; as a minister, I cannot believe he did not take his responsibilities seriously. I know he did. I am confident that crown prosecutors, even in Quebec, as underpaid and overworked as they are--and I certainly agree they are, in comparison to their counterparts in other provinces--would not make a case for orders by the court, by the judge, that would be so broad as to deny an offender the possibility of being able to be employed, to keep their employment, and, if that offender were not represented by counsel, that the offender would not in fact make the case. If the offender is represented by a lawyer, it's incumbent on that lawyer to make the case as to exactly what kinds of networks this individual, this offender, needs to have access to in order to be gainfully employed.
So Liberals will not be supporting this amendment.