Thank you.
As I was saying, the expression "record suspension" distances us from the vocabulary related to the principle of rehabilitation. It's a very significant change in language, and symbolic for the criminals who will leave prison, who will have paid their debt to society, who will have done their time and will have a record suspension. These words do not have the same meaning for someone who has perhaps spent 20 years in prison and who really wants to reintegrate into society, re-establish his or her life or start a new life, work and forget the mistake.
But the record suspension would only suspend the record, which could be re-opened at any time. I know full well it's the same thing for people who receive a pardon: they can go back at any time. It's the change in what the expression symbolizes that is important.
We also need to remember that most people do not reoffend once they are released from prison. We should let these people be pardoned for their crimes, even though the discretionary authority to truly pardon someone lies with the Crown. These are two different things. I am well aware of that. But I think we need to recognize what this new expression symbolizes, especially in French. It really moves us away from the vocabulary around the principle of rehabilitation. I don't think that this is the direction the Criminal Code and criminal justice should take.
Would my colleagues like to add anything?
(Clause 110 agreed to)
(On clause 111)