Thank you.
Mr. Gilhooly, when I read through clause 21, or proposed section 606, it talks about notifying the victim on a plea bargain. I wonder if it's potentially possible to change two words that would make it better for the victims. That is if the accused is charged with an offence and the accused and the prosecutor have entered into an agreement referred to in proposed subsection (4.1) right now it reads:
the court shall, after accepting the plea of guilty, inquire of the prosecutor whether any of the victims had advised the prosecutor of their desire to be informed if such an agreement
I wonder if you just changed the words from “after” to “prior to”....
In (4.4) there's a clause that says:
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.
Could you speak to that for a minute or two?