Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I will direct my questions to the Parole Board witness. I want to say first of all that the passage of the Victims Bill of Rights is a significant step in the right direction to protect the rights of victims who have so often been overlooked in Canada's criminal justice system.
In that regard, I certainly acknowledge the important role that Senator Pierre Boisvenu, whom I consider a friend, played in advancing the Victims Bill of Rights. Senator Boisvenu, of course, was a victim himself, his daughter having been brutally murdered.
As the report of the victims ombudsman demonstrates, there are still serious gaps in seeing that those rights are, in fact, realized in practice. One of the areas of concern is with respect to a lack of transparency or a perceived lack of transparency when it comes to the right to information for victims in respect of Parole Board hearings.
I want to just touch upon that, because Carol Freeman, whose father was brutally murdered in Oshawa, Ontario in 1991, was caught off guard when she suddenly received notice that the man who had brutally killed her father, and who had been sentenced to life in prison without eligibility for parole for 25 years, was suddenly up for parole after serving only 20 years. She had not been provided any sort of explanation about the dates or conditions that resulted in his eligibility for parole.
I would ask the Parole Board representative to discuss that, because it is a common concern of victims, who are caught off guard regarding these dates and who are informed with very little notice of parole hearings, which are often very difficult experiences for victims, particularly in instances of brutal crimes like murder.