Thank you for taking part in today's meeting.
I will start with Dr. Hannem because I think you pinpointed something really important.
The database you are talking about worries me considerably. It may mean that the victim will be identified. I don't think that is the intended objective. There seem to be two problems with this database: this matter of identification, and the issue of determining who will identify the person who is at high risk of recidivism.
If I understand correctly, we should perhaps include in clause 5 of the part of Bill C-26 that deals with the database a sentence specifying that none of this public information should be used to identify or contribute to identify the victim.
Would that be an acceptable caveat?
As for determining what should be included in this new database, should this responsibility not be given to the court rather than the RCMP? The governor in council could intervene first, in accordance with what is specified in the bill, which reads as follows:
11. The governor in council may make regulations: (a) establishing the criteria for determining whether a person who is found guilty of a sexual offence against a child poses a high risk of committing a crime of a sexual nature;
Clauses 3 and 4 refer to “information with respect to persons who are found guilty of sexual offences against children and who pose a high risk of committing crimes of a sexual nature.”
Would this not be a better way of framing this database?