Madam Chair, COVID really has been a blessing in some ways when it comes to the technological advances in our justice system. We can now file documentation digitally, we can conduct court appearances digitally, and we don't need to drive to court to pick up evidence packages, which now can all be produced digitally. These are great time-saving functions. They're making the justice system more efficient. They're reducing the number of court appearances that need to take place. This should all be encouraged.
What we don't want is a system where there's absolute rigidity when it comes to how we make our court appearances. We don't want a situation where every trial is mandated to proceed by Zoom or where every witness must appear remotely. There are some cases where that works perfectly fine, and other cases where that harms the administration of justice, where in order to make full answer and defence, we need the witnesses in the room.
To the extent that we can manage public safety and manage available court resources, we also want to be able to maintain that option. As I said, with that greater flexibility, we can allow for opportunities to utilize this technology and reduce delay, and also ensure fairness in the process.