Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
This amendment is, as you've said, to clause 214. What I'm proposing to do in PV-15 is to replace the discretionary “may” with an obligatory “shall” to ensure that a police officer is required to send the accused who is found in breach of bail conditions to a judicial referral hearing so long as there is no harm that's been done to any member of the public. Of course, the effect of this would be that it would no longer be at the officer's discretion whether this step was taken.
This was, again, recommended strongly in testimony before the committee by the Society of United Professionals who represent legal aid lawyers across Canada, as well as the testimony of Jane Sprott, Cheryl Webster and a number of others.
The question is really this. Our police officers are trained in many things, and they do a fine job in the things for which they are trained. They are not trained for this. They are not equipped to make this determination. By making it obligatory except if there is a significant threat of harm to a member of the public, it will enforce the direction the government wishes to go in this bill, and it would be an improvement and one that comes recommended from a group of legal professionals who deal with this client group more than anyone else.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.