Mr. Dechert, it has a very great impact on sexual offences in particular. In the past, a spouse who had very relevant evidence to present to the court was prevented from doing so, which had an impact on the crown's ability to secure convictions in cases involving children. In some cases, it wasn't a matter of the witness not wanting to take the stand, but rather of being prohibited from doing so under the rules of evidence.
In some ways, this bill has in fact been overtaken by another piece of legislation you're looking at, the victims bill of rights, which also has provisions that would essentially eliminate spousal immunity from testimony. But this bill, which was drafted around the same time, amends the Canada Evidence Act to specifically allow for spouses to be competent and compellable witnesses in sexual assault cases involving children.