Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Just briefly I think this bill is unusual in that it was twice blocked by the Senate. So this is a bill that has already been approved twice by the House of Commons, and as Mr. Falk is well aware, there were three sets of hearings on Parliament Hill within the last four years, one in the previous justice committee and two in the human rights committee and the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. The minutes of those hearings—and more than 35 witnesses appeared—are fully available to the members of this committee. In fact, they were brought to his attention. I would differ with him on whether committees have done their due diligence on this bill. That material is certainly available publicly and to all members. That's why this bill is somewhat different. When he says there's no precedent for bills going directly back, I would say two things. One is that of course it didn't. The minister was here and answered questions about the bill. So the committee did hold a session on that, but there are precedents for bills that have had no debate at all going back to the House of Commons.
I think the information is broadly available. Mr. Falk has his concerns. Those were canvassed in the previous hearings extensively, and that material is freely available to members of the committee. I know that I certainly reviewed that material before coming again to this bill.
Thank you.