The concerns that have been raised in testimony before this committee, including by Michael Spratt, who indicated he believes that the bill is unconstitutional, are a matter of real concern. Despite the fact that we all support the intent of the bill, if the bill is unconstitutional, it means that our effectiveness as a committee in passing this bill as legislation is eliminated. We will not have a bill that does what the government wants and what we all want to see. We have a responsibility to do our due diligence. When there is testimony that says that, indeed, it could be considered unconstitutional, it's something that we should take under careful consideration.
I will come back to the Criminal Lawyers' Association, because Ms. Khalid indicated that she didn't think it would do what I am suggesting the amendment would be able to do. The Criminal Lawyers' Association supports this amendment. They believe that it will eliminate the most egregious parts of this bill. That's why you have, from outside experts, support for the amendment to be adopted by the committee.
That's all I can say. I put that case forward and hope that members of this committee will do their due diligence and make the appropriate amendment. It simply would not be effective to change the preamble. We have to change the legislation if we want to make sure that the bill can stand that test of the charter.