After having put the question to several witnesses, we saw that there was a lack of clarity regarding the enforcement of the charter. This is true for the provinces, but it is also true at the federal level. For instance, the bill refers to a complaint mechanism, but even at the federal level, that mechanism has not yet been established. Who will have this responsibility? Will it be the ombudsman? Will it be someone else?
If the charter were adopted tomorrow morning, we would still have to give the provinces and federal departments the time to adopt these mechanisms, and as my colleague was saying, provide appropriate training.
I will not talk about resources, but no budget has been allocated to the enforcement of the Victims Bill of Rights. However, several witnesses referred to the vagueness around its enforcement. The work that will need to be done on that is going to require more than three months. The justice ministers, as well as several experts, emphasized this lack of clarity and the fact that it will be necessary to provide training after the bill of rights is adopted.
In light of the problems the provinces are going to be grappling with, I think a six-month time frame would be appropriate. We agree that even if the charter were adopted tomorrow morning, it could not be enforced immediately. In other words, a long process will be needed even within the federal government.
Perhaps the Department of Justice officials could tell us if the complaint mechanism has already been put in place in federal departments. I have my doubts.