Thank you to all the witnesses.
Ms. Smithen, thank you in particular for your courage in putting your personal situation in context before you began. I appreciate that.
I'm not sure I understand all this reverse-onus stuff. I'm going to try a little bit further.
My first question is for the lawyers. Is there not a concern that a reverse onus writ large would not meet charter compliance? I understand if some of you are saying that we would do that if and only if there's evidence of a pattern of behaviour. I thought I heard some say that even if there's a prior conviction or a conditional discharge.... I'm just a little confused where you land on this reverse onus. Could you perhaps enlighten me? Would you always wish to have a reverse onus in situations of intimate partner violence, or would it only be if there's an established pattern of behaviour in the past for which a person has received a conditional discharge, or been convicted, or writ large? I'm not clear where you land.