Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I also thank our witnesses.
This group of witnesses is probably the most diverse ever, and that is a good thing. Indeed, there are as many opinions as there are witnesses. We have lawyers from the Canadian Bar Association, and crown attorneys. It must be specified that the representative of the Canadian Association of Crown Counsel is a crown attorney. He is probably the one who, without being the victims' attorney, works most closely with them. There are also other groups representing victims, who do not necessarily share the same opinion
This gives us some of the real backdrop to bill C-32.
I think everybody agrees that Bill C-32 is a good step. It's a step in a good direction. It has good at the heart of it.
Ms. Illingworth showed all the weaknesses of the bill, if I can call them that, in the sense that there is not much that is enforceable. A lot of things the victims will have to seek themselves. We have others who are raving.
I'll play the lawyer that I am, and I will address some of my questions to the lawyers, because I am not sure that I agree totally with what they have been saying.
I will begin with the representative of the Canadian Bar Association.
Mr. Gottardi, regarding clause 21 and the guilty plea notification, you have said that the proposals were ambiguous and might delay trials unnecessarily. I believe M. Woodburn said approximately the same thing. You are also asking us to withdraw that clause from the bill.
And yet, when I read the bill, I get the impression that this will not prevent you from obtaining guilty pleas, and that following the request from the judge, even if you have not had time to inform the victims, this will not prevent guilty pleas from being entered. You will simply have to inform the victims that that is taking place.
Moreover, subclause 21(4.4) states that:
Neither the failure of the court to inquire of the prosecutor, nor the failure of the prosecutor to take reasonable steps to inform the victims of the agreement, affects the validity of the plea.
What the hell are you afraid of with that clause? I mean, for me, it's a clause that's at the heart of what I hear a lot from victims, that sometimes they are not informed.
That may not include you, Eric, because I do know a lot of crown attorneys who do take the time with the victims.
But to infringe that in a charter, to say it's a right to know that there's a deal coming, that there's a plea coming—what's wrong with that?
I would address that first to “Mr. CBA”.