Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, as we begin our study, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), on the criminalization of non-disclosure of HIV status.
This is a long-awaited study for many of us. HIV is the only sexually transmitted disease where failure to disclose your status could lead to criminal charges. This committee wants to study whether or not the prosecutorial directives that have been put in place by the federal government, Ontario and B.C. are sufficient; whether there should be changes; or whether it should be removed from the Criminal Code, etc.
We are going to be joined for the next several meetings by a list of really distinguished witnesses. They will help us gain more insight into both what the law should be and also on best practices, in terms of making sure that we're up to date on the latest medical status and on what we might want to do to make sure that people get tested, and whether or not the current law is precluding or deterring people from getting tested.
Joining us today by video conference from Paris is Martin Bilodeau, of the Ontario AIDS Network. He is the national coordinator of the positive leadership development institute program.
Can you hear me, Mr. Bilodeau?