Yes, Mr. Chairman.
This is a “for a greater certainty” clause, a phraseology not unknown, ensuring that court and review board decisions accord with the following principles, again, as set out by the Supreme Court, that NCR-accused must be treated with the utmost dignity and afforded the utmost liberty compatible with their situation and that NCR-accused are not to be “punished or left to languish in custody”.
Mr. Chair, I note that some members may wonder where the eloquent phrasing of “the accused who has been declared not criminally responsible is to be treated with the utmost dignity and afforded the utmost liberty compatible with his or her situation, and is not to be punished or left to languish in custody” comes from. Lest members think that I have penned these words, they actually come—I think it's important to appreciate this, Mr. Chairman—from Supreme Court jurisprudence, reiterated by that body time and again. It was not a one-time situation. We're talking about a principle embedded in Supreme Court jurisprudence.
The same goes for the admonishment that an NCR-accused “is not to be punished or left to languish in custody”. In a word, Mr. Chairman, this amendment seeks to codify the language of the Supreme Court of Canada to make clear to review boards and courts of Parliament's intention to respect the rights flowing from the charter toward NCR-accused, who, it should be recalled, have neither been found guilty nor innocent of any offence.
I would hope that Parliament would seek to reflect and represent foundational principles of Canadian jurisprudence that have been set down time and again, and not sort of pre-emptively reject these amendments as if they have no meaning or substance.