Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm fully aware of the limits of this morning's exercise, given that time allocation motions moved in the House have an impact not only on the bills in question, but also on our work in committee, which is extremely unfortunate.
I listened to the minister's speech as we look at these very particular supplementary estimates. He took this as an opportunity to talk, for the umpteenth time, about his plan for a victims' bill of rights, which I am anxiously awaiting to see introduced in the House. I am also anxious to discuss the cyberbullying bill as soon as possible. I hope we will have the opportunity to study them more thoroughly in due course. I also hope we will have enough time to do our jobs properly.
I would like to take this opportunity to prepare the minister for his next visit, since I imagine he will be back to discuss the main estimates.
This week I had the honour of meeting Chiefs Carl Sidney, Dave Joe and Georgina Sidney who told me about a justice program that exists as an agreement between the federal government and the Yukon. This agreement would give them the power to administer justice on their territory.
About $500,000 is still needed to implement that program. I would simply like to inform the minister that I expect him to be ready to discuss this matter at our next meeting. I am someone who likes to make the first move. I like discussing things openly, rather than showing up at the last minute with propositions. Now he knows. I hope to hear some good news at that time. I hope he will tell me that that agreement, which has existed since 2011, will finally be implemented. The only thing missing is the implementation agreement. I am stunned by this.
Votes 5c and 20c have to do with official languages. This is interesting, because we are currently studying part XVII of the Criminal Code.
With regard to part XVII of the Criminal Code and in relation to vote 5c, I would like to ask the minister if he has been following our analysis of the scope of part XVII regarding its practical application. Based on what we have heard, there are some major deficiencies when it comes to bilingualism in our courts.
The Commissioner of Official Languages appeared before us and said we will never be able to talk about access to justice until it is fully accessible in both official languages. Criminal law falls under federal jurisdiction. Is the minister prepared to broaden the scope of part XVII for bail hearings?
As for the upcoming victims' bill of rights, will the additional sums mentioned be used exclusively for that, or will they be used to make up for other programs that already exist on the ground?