Thank you, Mr. Chair.
On a parenthetical note, wouldn't it be fun if I could vote and then you'd have to break every tie?
In any case, moving on to PV-4, I think it's very clear that as a matter of statutory interpretation, lists are difficult. Lists can be viewed later on by a court as suggesting an exclusivity because certain elements are listed and others are left out.
In this case, what I'm proposing in PV-4 is that we delete, in clause 12, proposed paragraphs (a) through (e) under proposed subsection 672.64(2), which are the specifics to try, I suppose, to set out for a court what all relevant evidence would be.
My position on this is that a court will know what “all relevant evidence” is, and by listing, we might accidentally leave out other factors that I think even Conservative members of this committee would want the court to consider, such as the concerns of victims, which aren't part of this list.
They cannot suggest here that there might be mitigating factors. There might be other evidence that would be open to a court if it merely said “all relevant evidence”, but by listing (a) through (e), we have suggested and prejudged for a court what's relevant. It could give rise to an appeal because the court might be seen to have gone beyond what was an exclusive list for consideration when, in fact, the term “all relevant evidence” is all one needs to ensure that the judiciary can, in the light of all the other sections of the act, make the determination of which accused is a high-risk accused.
In other words, we shouldn't put forward a list that could be seen later as exclusive of other factors.