I'll read it, and then maybe I'll try to see if I can meet the concerns that Mr. Fraser raised.
Mr. MacGregor said:
This is just a quick question. I want to exhaust all my avenues with this bill.
You raised concerns, Mr. Embry, about the pre-sentence report's becoming part of the public record. I don't know whether this is yet possible, but if we could find language to make this section of the pre-sentence report a separate and confidential report to the judge for the judge's eyes only, would that satisfy some of your concerns?
Mr. Embry said, “Yes, for sure it would.”
It was a privacy aspect that he was concerned about. If the drafting we got back doesn't meet the concerns, I wonder whether it would be possible to say in proposed subsection 721(3.1), “Information on the matters referred to in paragraph (3)(a.1) shall be filed with the court in a separate document and the court shall examine the document to determine whether the document ought to be disclosed due to the privacy interests of the offender.”
That gives the judge explicit discretion. It's focused solely on the privacy interests of the offender.
I think you're going to tell me once again that this particular language isn't found in the Criminal Code. Having said that, if you think there is a concern, if Mr. Embry speaking on behalf of the defence bar flagged something that you agree with, this would be my attempt to meet that concern more specifically through “whether the document ought to be disclosed due to the privacy interests of the offender.”