Sure. Thank you very much.
By way of introduction, I've been working with the family for about two and a half years. I saw this in the newspaper in my local community, and I volunteered my time, my company's time, to do government relations, public relations, and media relations, because I saw the travesty going on within the system.
We've also worked on not only this part of the legislation, but we also worked to correct some of the domestic violence laws that are in British Columbia. In fact, we had Premier Christy Clark present an apology to the family last year, and also to provide a report to ensure this doesn't happen again. We're looking at all sides of the spectrum.
With regard to the up to 36 months provision, I can tell you I've seen the pain this family goes through. The other thing this committee may or may not be aware of is that on a whim, the NCR accused can change the date of the hearing. For example, in April 2011, Mr. Schoenborn set the date, wanted to change it, then did not show up for his own hearing. In 2012 he decided he didn't want his date.
By the way, the family has been trying to move the date from the anniversary of the murders. They were told no, that the patient has to agree.
In March 2012, he wanted to move it to Christmas. Of course, we put up a fight. The crown agreed. He moved it to November. In November, four days before the hearing, he decided he didn't feel like that date was sufficient, so he moved it to Valentine's Day. That was convenient for the NCR accused.
This is the pain the family goes through. If it were every three years, the family could heal. Between hearings, it's like an election. Once you win your election, you're gearing up for the next election. Once they finish a hearing, they're gearing up for the next hearing. There's no time to heal. Three years would give the accused an opportunity to get better, and it would give the family an opportunity to heal as well.