I think what it's doing is adding one more level of complexity to both the law and to the hearings. If we were clear on what we wanted to happen at the hearings, then, if any one or two of us around the table sat down and asked what section 515 should say, my guess is we couldn't come up with 4,500 words to direct people on what to do.
My suspicion is that, as we've gone from whatever it was I said, the relatively small number of words, to the number of words we have in section 515 now, what we have done in each of those cases is say, “This will actually make it a little bit better.” My guess is that at some point we went beyond the tipping point, so we made it a less effective system. We all want the right people to be detained on the grounds that are in there, so what we're doing is making it more difficult for people to ensure that because we have to do this, and we have to do that, and we have to do something else. Why is this section so much longer, three times longer than it was when it was first enacted? It first became law in January 1972. I think it's because well-meaning people added, “Oh, we have to close this off.”
Let's assume that there are no evidentiary issues—a huge assumption—but let's assume that there are no evidentiary issues, and this is just requiring this to happen. This is ignoring the problem. It's ignoring what is really going on. In that sense, it's a distraction from addressing the real thing.
I would be very disappointed if this committee or the House of Commons were to accept this bill saying, “It can't hurt”, and then wipe its hands of the problem of bail because if you do that, it is certainly a lost opportunity.