Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for joining us today, Mr. Minister. You are starting to be part of the furniture at our committee. We appreciate that.
We were all very pleased to be able to support Bill C-37. I think that all of us here in this room agree that victims should be compensated properly. There are huge needs in that respect. This bill might be a step in the right direction. At the same time, we have to make sure that we are not creating other problems by passing this bill.
I am sure you have followed the debates on Bill C-37 at second reading. You were able to see that the official opposition is concerned about the loss of judicial discretion in specific cases when the accused had to demonstrate that they were unable to pay. We have some questions about that. You briefly touched on it in your presentation.
Is it because it seems that it is not imposed, almost automatically? Have you been able to study the reason? Is it because many of the accused had legal aid and the court perhaps concluded that they would be unable to pay as a result? Has your department been able to look into this matter? Was it because the estimated surcharges have not materialized?